MATCHING MATES
Happy Ever Mate
by
Bronwyn Heeley
HAPPY EVER MATE
JUNE 2017
COPYRIGHT © 2017 by Bronwyn Heeley
Proof Edited by Pinny’s Proofreading
Cover Art Copyright © 2016 by BonyDee Design
Cover content is for illustrative only and any person depicted on the cover is a model
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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MATCHING MATES 6
The rules of the game are simple. When the matchmaker matches you, you have twenty-four hours of heat, where only your mate will soothe you. What you choose to do is up to you, but the pain of not consummating those desires with your mate will most likely end in death. You are free to walk away at the end of your time together, but no one said it would be simple to head off home and forget what happened.
Cameron’s life hasn’t been easy, but he’s willing to put up with being a slave to a master vampire, in order to make the man he loves happy. However, Wayne, his lover, doesn’t care where he sleeps, as long as they’re together. Can he convince Cameron to run away, or will they be spending a lifetime in a place neither of them want to be, just to make the other happy?
Dedication
To Cameron & Wayne, it’s their story after all
Chapter One
Cameron sat on the throne at the top of the room, seated above the dance floor and tables the guests at the party enjoyed. To everyone else it was as if he put himself there to lord his position over all that attended, nodding at those who bowed and whispered a brief thanks for their attendance.
“Matchmaker.” One of the men guarding him nudged him awake. His eyes flickered to the left where the guard stood, for just a moment before he caught himself, and then he looked down upon the ladies curtsying in front of him. He wasn’t sure what they had said, what they wanted. Though if he was honest there was a fifty-fifty chance they either wanted to know if their matches were here, or if he’d bless their mating.
“Will you honour us?” one of the women repeated with hesitation, clearly thinking he wasn’t going to allow the match.
Taking a deep breath, Cameron sat up straighter and allowed his eyes to shift to what he’d been told was a deep-purple orb. The colour covering its round structure was only purple, no black, no whites. When he opened his eyes all he saw was colours. Pulses and ribbons danced on the floor, above the floor, reaching for the sky tangling with each other, sniffing one another out, tasting.
Cameron looked down at the women before him, they were a match as much as anyone else was. Maybe not true mates, but even he didn’t get to match true mates often, they were rare. But that didn’t mean a person didn’t get a match, wouldn’t have a mate for life. Things just weren’t that cut and dry. A heart had more love than that, a body held more need. And there were multiple opportunities for love to set, and for them to be truly happy until death pulled them apart.
“Matchmaker?” One of the women gasped, her colour spiking as she started to panic.
“Blessed be,” he whispered down at the women, nodding and connecting their lines that little bit more together than they already were. It would allow for them never to be separated by magical forces.
“Thank you.” The other one sobbed a joyful sob as they embraced with a quick kiss and hurried off.
Cameron felt a spark of joyous light hit his heart before it quickly died as he sat back in his chair. He wanted what he granted others, wanted it more than anything. Well, that wasn’t true. He’d much prefer not to be tethered to a chair and owned by a vampire, who just wanted him so he could hold a matchmaker over the rest of the paranormal world.
Before he could blink away the sight, the vampire in question walked up from behind him. He was a black ominous cloud which made Cameron want to run and find shelter, but instead, he stood still and allowed the darkness to take him over. He’d been here for a long time, understood the rules, and if he didn’t at least make a handful of people connect then he’d be sent to the dungeons, and no one wanted to go there. Especially those who knew they would be freed, in a way, by the end of the week.
“Now, matchmaker.” The darkness spoke, his voice deep and evil. His tone talked down, sneering the name rather than how the woman had spoken before him. There was no love. No hope of wonder. Just darkness, and the added bonus of pain if he didn’t do what was asked of him.
Taking a deep breath, Cameron looked out over the crowd, finding links and wrapping them up together. Each connection knew what was about to happen, if they were lucky enough to be chosen. They’d drop everything in front of them in order to search for the one Cameron chose for them. They could try and resist but all that would entail was a lust so painful it would drive them to their deaths.
No one would take that over a twenty-four-hour fuck feast they were all welcome to have. That’s what they truly came here for, even if they’d hoped for his blessing.
After he did the first step of what was asked of him, Cameron pulled the lust strands on everyone else in the room. It was important and what the vampire wanted more than anything else. The gratefulness of true connection Cameron gave him was an added bonus to the fact that everyone in the room would get laid and be happy, and would pay him more and more in order to get back into the party.
“Let the fun begin,” Master of the vampire’s mumbled, and the matchmaker felt his eyes grow lazy, his body sag. The power he’d used wrung him dry, and a guard had to put a hand under his elbow and carry him out of the room.
Chapter Two
Wayne took Cameron off Jeromy as he entered the hallway. It wasn’t an unusual event, even if Jeromy was meant to dump the matchmaker’s body in his room after Master was done with him. However, they’d been doing this dance for over three years now, and as long as Cameron made his appearance to Master the next day, no one said a word.
He’d probably say that no one actually remembered, even Jeromy. The magic Cameron created made everyone’s mind a muddled mess until it wore off. This was one of the reasons he’d stopped waiting for Cameron in his room, and why he’d started coming to just outside the doorway instead. Master didn’t come out into the hallway, definitely didn’t come down the hallway.
Wayne wasn’t sure what the evil bastard did, whether he just watched the magic start, or found himself a victim of his own. He didn’t give a shit either. There was only one reason Wayne stuck around, and it wasn’t for the cushiony lifestyle. He’d been homeless for three years before some arsehole changed him, and if the man in his arms would run with him he’d live like that again, just to get Cameron away from the monster that ran this fucking house.
The hallways took no time to navigate through, and yet Cameron was deep in the bowels of this mausoleum that stationed as a hotel three times a year. Wayne almost thought of taking Cameron back to his own suite of rooms, but knew from past experience it wasn’t helpful. It was much easier for him to hide when they heard
Master coming to get Cameron, than it was to explain why he hadn’t been where Master wished to find him.
This life was shit, and Wayne wanted more for Cameron—always had—but the man never let him.
Opening the door to Cameron’s tiny quarters, Wayne took a breath. No matter how many times he did this, no matter how much he told himself he was going to get back here without being seen, it still took him a moment to let his breath settle. The fear was deep, Master made sure of that. After kicking the door closed, Wayne carefully laid Cameron down onto his bed. The bedding was a perfect testimony to how nervous he was, every time one of these little balls took place. Wayne shook his head as he realised he’d been crouched down next to the bed, just staring at his lover.
“What’s wrong?” Cameron’s voice sounded in the room. Like every time he’d woken back up, it sounded as if he’d been down for a week with the flu. Hardly there and full of… everything.
“Let me take you away from here.” Wayne’s hand came up to grip onto a hand that was full of life, but in this moment felt frail.
Cameron sighed deep in his chest, something he’d done every time they’d danced this dance. Wayne closed his eyes, knowing what was coming.
“I….” Another sigh.
Wait. Wayne’s head snapped up. That was different, and that feeling in his chest was hope—a hope he’d not ever felt when the subject came up. And even if Carmon rejected him this time round, Wayne got the feeling that sooner rather than later, he may actually get his lover away from this mess. Away from the life he’d been living way too long.
“Yes?” Too eager, his voice was too eager, but it couldn’t be helped.
“I….” Those eyes stayed closed, brows coming down hard. Thoughts were spinning in that brilliant mind, probably with the sluggishness of just waking up after being passed out.
Shit.
This wasn’t right. Wayne got up onto the side of the bed. His hands framed Cameron’s, who leant into his right one, a little of the burdens he was trying to carry easing.
“Baby.” Wayne nearly sang, his body curling down over the matchmaker. “Don’t, baby, don’t right now. Just rest and let me take care of you.”
“Please.” Cameron’s lips moved up in a gentle smile. “My body is on fire.”
Wayne felt his face change, turning into something with a bit more smugness to it. Something that was all about light and fluffy, or maybe more dirty minds and gutter talk, but who’s to say what they did wasn’t the best of the best.
One of the things people didn’t know, was that the matchmaker was just as—maybe even more—affected by his own powers than the people he used it against. Well, not the idea of connecting true mates—he didn’t believe he could do that to himself, and that was fine by Wayne because he didn’t want the little man getting the idea there was someone outside of himself for the matchmaker. Wayne sure as hell hadn’t been able to convince Cameron he was the perfect mate for the magical being now lying beneath him.
Wayne’s lips brushed down onto Cameron’s, soft as a whisper, letting the feel of his lover seep into his very soul. Wayne knew one thing, and that was he didn’t want to ever be free of the matchmaker. He was going to do anything, go through anything, in order to keep him. Even if that meant staying under Master’s roof for the rest of Cameron’s life.
Cameron’s hands moved against Wayne’s sides, gripping onto the shirt he wore as he tried to move his head up higher, trying to clue Wayne in to something he already knew was coming. With a smile he swept his tongue across Cameron’s bottom lip, making him gasp, heat brushing his face before he went in for a deeper kiss.
Everything about Cameron sang for him; his breathing, the heart beating behind skin and ribs, the blood pumping through his veins, the muscles, and especially the brain that controlled everything that was him, as well as everyone else. Wayne had been in awe from the moment his gaze touched Cameron, who happened to have been sitting up on a throne, looking as miserable as anyone Wayne had ever seen. It had been Wayne’s one night of freedom before being completely inducted into the household. Okay, so it was probably more so he’d know what the hell was going on, rather than anything else. To see how he’d react so Master could put him where he’d needed to be when the ball was set up, and the party started. The fact he’d locked eyes with the matchmaker and hadn’t been able to let them go was telling, even if no one was around to see it. Also, he’d turned himself around and left the ballroom without a second thought to go in search of the man. There had been a solid lie about fucking a rabbit shifter, and the real description of what its blood had tasted like going down his throat that saved him from a serious questioning. However, from that moment on he’d been lost, and done everything he could to make sure the matchmaker knew just how special he was—even if it only happened in small snippets of time in the shit room Wayne wished he could take the man away from forever.
Chapter Three
Some people had a hard time around the matchmaker, either because of some stupid idea he’d just link them with someone they didn’t like, or the fact they thought him above them. Someone who needed to be treated as a king so they could keep the love of their lives. Their misguided fear kept everyone at a distance, or at least everyone but Wayne.
Wayne was something special. Something Cameron wasn’t going to be stupid enough to ever lose, or at least not with some stupid quest to leave the confines of Master’s headquarters. It wouldn’t be an easy life outside these walls. Cameron would already be on the run, always looking over his shoulder, and what kind of person put their lover through that just because the idea of being a slave was more than they could take.
Okay, so maybe the fact he was technically a slave was a great one to up and leave, but again, what type of person would he be to put his own wellbeing above another, even if the bastard kept on asking, and Cameron’s ability to grit his teeth and lie was wearing thin.
Cameron moaned deep in his chest when Wayne’s body fell down on top of his. The masterful mouth of his had Cameron’s already glitch-y mind firing blanks, allowing his body to take over. Fingers and palms ran down his neck and onto his shoulders, one arm curling around under him and pulling him close. The other ran against the back of Cameron’s thigh, pulling it up so Wayne could get his hips closer, letting the hard curve of his cock rub up against Cameron’s balls. His whole body started to vibrate. It wasn’t unusual when he got this close to the man of his dreams, but there was something different the nights of the balls—probably the added energy in the air, the buzz of the lust making itself known. If you asked Wayne, which Cameron didn’t find the need to, he would say Cameron was suffering the same aftereffects as those he’d… well, infected, but he didn’t believe that. He’d never been overly angry when turning a person into a muddled mess of madness. He’d never been overly happy once he’d created such happiness in a person they’d forget what they were saying. Yes, they called him a matchmaker, but truly he was just a higher sort of empathy witch, where he could see the energies to a point of creating them himself. It was why they called his type matchmakers, as bringing people together brought out the best emotions in him, and therefore made him want to do it more. At least that’s what it had been like before he’d been captured by the Master.
“You with me?” Wayne whispered against his neck as his mouth worked against the sensitive skin there. Little nibbles and heated sucking. He wouldn’t be marked, but gods did it feel good, heated him in a way that went beyond everything else, turned his body on like a dial knob. Wait! Did that make sense?
“Yes,” Camron groaned as his hips shifted up, his head twisting to give Wayne more room. His skin tingled, itched in a way that was all about getting his clothes off him, and then feeling the soft silk of Wayne’s smooth chest against the soft fluff he called chest hair.
His own fingers went to Wayne’s lower back, gripping at the bottom of Wayne’s shirt, trying to push it up and off. He didn’t get very far, mostly because he didn’t want
to interrupt Wayne, and because his fingertips had found the muscled small of Wayne’s back. He liked the heat coming off his lover’s skin. Liked the pull of muscles as Wayne shifted above him, flexed his heat. It wasn’t much but enough to give something to entertain Cameron’s fingers.
Lips met his, tongue pushing into his mouth. A moan flowed from Wayne into Cameron and brought the soft foreplay into an irritation. Why couldn’t Wayne hurry up? Why am I not doing more to make him?
A chuckle had their lips parting, and Cameron blinked up into eyes that sparkled with heat and humour. Wayne was always happy, it was one of the things that drew Cameron to him. The smile mightn’t have been on his lips all the time but his aura always showed it. He made him want to smile, even when he was crying.
“You need me to undress you, babe?”
Cameron did smile then. It was more because Wayne would in fact undress him if he wanted him to. He wouldn’t even have to answer him, just lay there and wait it out. Wayne was just one of those people.
“You do it, then.”
Wayne smiled wider as he pushed himself off the bed to take his own pants off, his shirt already making itself known to the floor.
Smiling to himself, Cameron liked the light feeling in his chest, something he’d not felt for nearly a month. It was how life went, the closer the ball came, the more Master wanted him visible. Cameron shook off the thoughts of Master by unbuttoning his own pants and pushing down the zipper, before pulling his arm out of his shirt sleeve, and then lifting it over his head.
He laughed as his body was hauled against the mattress, his pants getting caught around his thighs.
Happy Ever Mate (Matching Mates Book 6) Page 1