by Mandy Rosko
“It’s not so much them I’m concerned about ending my life as it is you.”
Silus could have snorted if it would not have been so crude. “Of course. I am a vampire.”
“No, I’m not talking about the whole vampire-sun sprite, love-to-hate-each-other thing.”
Silus lifted a brow, certain there was a jest in there he was not getting.
“I’m engaged to be married.”
A blood rage blinded him. That this sun sprite was already claimed, and belonged to another, yet came here to Silus, was the worst sort of insult.
Cedric jumped up and grabbed his arm, spinning him before he could leave. “It’s an arranged marriage.”
Everything in the little room returned to its proper color, no longer red and angry, but there was still a great deal of annoyance flowing in his blood. “Then you have no choice in that matter. Still, may I ask why you would then involve yourself with my kind?”
With me was what he wanted to say, which was the epitome of stupidity.
“I’ve been engaged to my cousin since she was born,” Cedric said, “but I never found out about that until several months ago, right before she came of age. Today was actually supposed to be our wedding day, but she’s sick in bed, so it’s being postponed. Last night when you invited me back, I had no plans of returning.”
“But now that your cousin is ill, it leaves you free?” Silus’s anger continued to simmer. This horrible revelation from a relative stranger should not make his insides clench like they did. He did not enjoy the knowledge that he was being used.
Cedric’s face was sincere. “That’s not why I’m here. If you want me to go, I’ll go. It’s your choice, and I won’t beg to stay.”
Would the sprite actually consider begging?
“As for being free, it’s a yes and no sort of thing.”
Silus lifted a brow. “I would think marriage would be one way or the other.”
Cedric bit his bottom lip. “You’re right, but I want you to hear this. A few days ago, I spoke with my father, and he gave me permission to have my own private bachelor party, per se. Just me and Ben.”
Silus bristled. “That human?” He would kill the man when he saw him next.
“He’s my bodyguard. We weren’t going to sleep with each other. He needs to go where I go.”
Silus recalled Cedric ordering the man to return home after they had met last night, and his flaring temper calmed again.
“It was to hide from my mother and extended family that I was going to find a man to spend the night with. He had no idea I was looking for a vampire,” he quickly added at Silus’s shocked stare.
“He wanted me to get it out of my system. One last fuck before I settled down with a wife I didn’t choose.” Cedric’s muscles clenched and unclenched as he chewed on his bottom lip.
Silus felt a twinge of pity for him. He could never comprehend what it would be like to be forced to marry and Cedric seemed to truly be struggling with his words. “Right before I met you I kept thinking what it would be like if I said no. What could they really do to me except toss me out? After I left your room last night, I decided that whether I came back or not, I wasn’t going to do it.”
Cedric took a breath. “I talked to my father again today anyway, to try one last time to get him to see reason, and his answer was still no. He still fucking said no. He’ll always care about what others think of him more than me.”
Silus waited, but for what, he was not entirely sure. Of course there would be no tender feelings to be had between them. Cedric had just admitted he had only been searching for a night of fun, something meaningless to be had regardless of what his marital status would be the next day. This was an explanation of why Cedric was even here to begin with, not a declaration of feelings.
“I can see the wheels in your head turning,” Cedric said. “Whether you want me here or not, I’ve made up my mind. I’m not getting married.”
“You speak as though any of this were important.”
Cedric recoiled with shock. “Isn’t it?”
Silus stepped forth. “You came for one reason and one reason only, did you not?”
Cedric did not move or speak. He swallowed, and Silus watched the Adam’s apple of his neck bob.
Silus stepped closer again until their chests touched, tilting his neck up, he pressed his lips to Cedric’s, brushing and lingering on his mouth. “For a night of pleasure.”
He let his fangs loose to scrape along that plump bottom lip. Cedric shivered. “Well, yeah, but—”
Silus would listen to no more. He pressed his mouth firmly to those compliant lips and opened his mouth for his tongue to invade Cedric’s.
His golden sun sprite complied with no hint of protest, strong arms with light hairs winding around his shoulders, pulling their bodies closer.
But Silus decided he did not enjoy this type of kissing. He had to lift his face up, which was an oddity to him. Apparently, being tall for a vampire still made him short to sun sprites, and he pushed Cedric back so that he fell into the wicker love seat.
Cedric laughed at his forcefulness. “I was so disappointed we couldn’t finish last night.”
Silus put his hands on Cedric’s shoulders. “I mean to rectify that.” He pushed him again to lie back before getting on top of his new lover and stretching his body out until comfortable. Ah, much more satisfying now that they were on equal ground. He buried his face into Cedric’s neck and suckled there, scratching with his teeth occasionally.
What would happen if he were to take another taste?
Cedric made a little purring noise, but it was small compared to what Silus wanted to hear. Buttons flew everywhere as Silus ripped the man’s silk shirt open and attacked his nipples. He did the same to them as he’d done to Cedric’s neck, using his tongue, scraping with his teeth, and occasionally putting in a gentle bite. This time the sounds were a little deeper, a little louder. And much more dangerous.
He put his hand over Cedric’s mouth. “As much as I enjoy listening to you, these walls are far from soundproof.”
Cedric kissed his palm. “Sorry. Kind of hard though.”
He could have meant it both figuratively or literally, judging from the firm length pushing against Silus’s leg.
Still, there could be no risk. Not yet. Not until Silus had the chance to discover just how far he wished to take this. Safety must come first. Silus unclipped his belt and pulled it free from the loops in his pants. Folding it, he held it to Cedric’s face. “Any more noise, and I shall gag you with this.”
“Sounds exciting,” Cedric said before fisting his hand in Silus’s hair and forcing their lips together again.
While Silus busied himself with Cedric’s mouth, occasionally rocking their still clothed hips together for delicious friction, Cedric’s hands released him to move lower between them, fumbling with his own belt and fly. The eager sprite kicked off his shoes, letting them drop to the floor, and Silus had to extract himself for a few seconds so Cedric could throw off his dark jeans. But for the shirt, which had been ripped open and was now barely hanging onto his broad shoulders, he was completely naked.
“Should all of vampire society discover how eager to make love sun sprites are, it could end the cold war.”
Cedric smiled, his skin brightening at the comment.
Silus winced and raised his hand to his eyes.
The smile and the light vanished. “Sorry.”
“No, do not be sorry.” Silus stared at his hands, noting their lack of a red burn. “It did not hurt.”
Shouldn’t there have at least been a burn from when he stepped out into the twilight? But verily, there was nothing there at all. No rash. No redness.
“It happens sometimes when we get happy. The glowing.”
Silus grinned. “And, this makes you happy?” He thrust his cloth-clad erection against Cedric’s awaiting organ. Cedric hissed and bit his lips together, suppressing a moan.
“I–I want yo
u. I want you to do to me whatever it was I did to you last night.”
Silus chuckled and wrapped his fingers around Cedric’s thick prick. It was uncut, swollen, and pulsed in time with his heartbeat. He gave it a firm stroke, and the head appeared from beneath the folds of skin. The bliss on Cedric’s face was admirable. “I doubt your drinking of my blood will have the same effect.”
The bliss disappeared in favor of a scowl. “You know what I mean.”
Silus abandoned Cedric’s cock to get his trousers off but paused when a devastating thought occurred to him. “We do not exactly keep lubrication in here.”
“Ten steps ahead of you.” Cedric reached down to the mound of clothes on the floor, fished around, and pulled out a fresh tube from the pile.
Silus snatched it like a greedy child taking an offered treat, and he completely divested himself of his clothing. He tossed the expensive articles away as though they were trash kept between him and the man below him. “I am going to finish what we started last night, and after that, you are mine.”
Silus froze. The words of possession left his lips without any thought going into them, but he didn’t attempt to take them back, nor did Cedric appear alarmed at being claimed.
Did the sprite even know what it meant that Silus had claimed him? He must not because Cedric shifted to accommodate himself and spread his legs wide apart, hiding nothing of his intimate areas, waiting, eager and still glowing.
He would have to panic over this new development later. Much later, when there was not a naked and willing man beneath him.
Silus made quick work of the preparation. He was never one for patience, especially when his bed partner began moaning and changing colors so prettily beneath him. He was torn between hating that he was not Cedric’s first, and loving that they could do this fast and hard like he wanted.
When satisfied with the slickness, and unable to listen to any more of the wonderful sounds coming from Cedric’s throat, Silus withdrew his fingers and lifted Cedric’s knees over his shoulders. Cedric wiggled into a comfortable place, and Silus pushed the head of his cock into him, slick, hot, and tight. He managed to keep his mouth shut and contain his moan with a deep groan. He went in as far as he could until a second barrier of muscle stopped him. He waited for Cedric to relax completely, both of them panting, beads of sweat forming on Cedric’s glorious skin. When the second wall relented, Silus took a breath and slammed all the way inside.
Cedric made noise, a loud, open-mouthed moaning noise. His golden eyes widened as he realized what he’d done, and everything became silent as they waited.
No noises came from the outside. No calls could be heard from any of the guards to check on the sounds coming from the pool house. Nothing.
“Maybe they didn’t hear me?” Cedric asked.
Silus reached for his clothes and grabbed his belt. “Or perhaps someone out there recognized the sounds of sex and does not wish to disturb us.”
Of course, who the guards could possibly think their lord was fucking was beyond Silus.
He stuck the belt between Cedric’s lips, wrapped it around his head and buckled it. The sight filled his already throbbing member to the bursting point, and Silus had to start rocking again. “You are beautiful like that.”
Cedric’s eyes rolled back, and his hands gripped Silus’s arms—his shoulders still holding Cedric’s legs up—to hang on for the ride. This time no loud sounds escaped. His long moans were muffled by the belt.
Silus rocked harder. “Perhaps next time we do this, I’ll use that belt and tie you to my bed.”
Was he already contemplating a next time? He supposed there would have to be one if he had claimed the sprite he was currently inside.
Cedric pushed against him and groaned through the belt again. It seemed to be an affirmative noise.
His lover put his hands in Silus’s black hair and pulled him down, but seemed to realize at the last second that kissing could not be done like this. Silus put their foreheads together instead. His lips occasionally touched a cheekbone, nose, and even the belt itself where it gagged that luscious mouth.
Silus braced himself on his elbows and thrust his hips harder, back and forth, into Cedric’s body. All the while he admired the sweat building, and red flush rising on Cedric’s cheeks, chest and neck. The neck appealed to him the most.
One little taste. This was what he had wanted from the beginning. Why should he not take it? Any other time and he would not be holding himself back like this, but there was still a risk…
Cedric squeezed his eyes shut and moaned louder. Blood-pumping lust made Silus’s decision for him. He needed to taste his lover like this. Silus needed to give Cedric the pleasure of the bite, and he so wanted the pleasure of the blood. ’Twas madness to deny himself.
Never ceasing the pumping of his hips, Silus’s mouth found the quickened pulse at Cedric’s neck. He licked and kissed first, telling Cedric without words what he planned to do.
Then he sank his teeth in, a hard bite that broke the skin. He pulled his fangs out just as quickly as he pushed them in. Cedric’s entire body clenched around him, his arms and legs, even his channel as his orgasm took him. The belt was nearly not enough to contain his pleasure.
Silus’s orgasm was thrown toward the ledge, ready to topple over, and would in any pulsing, electrifying second if he did not act fast. He licked the sweet blood from his lips and the small buildup on Cedric’s shoulder, and then he let himself be pushed.
The sun exploded behind his eyes once again. Though he’d punished Cedric with a gag for being so loud, Silus, still rocking and humping out the last of his fluids, opened his mouth and roared as he spilled himself into his lover.
His mate.
Then, but for the minor twitches of his orgasm, he stilled and fell onto Cedric’s chest. Their bodies were so slick with perspiration he nearly slid off.
* * * *
“If I’d known vampires bit their partners during sex, I probably wouldn’t have gone to your room in the first place. I mean, I’d heard things, but was never sure.”
“Then it is very fortunate you were not sure.” Silus snuggled his lover closer. The little wicker couch could barely contain the both of them laying back to chest as they were unless they pressed firmly against each other, which Silus was more than happy to do, and Cedric didn’t seem to mind much either.
Silus had seen the brief shock on Cedric’s face when he settled down with him and felt the slight tension in his muscles as Silus pulled him close, but eventually Cedric had calmed himself enough to relax into the embrace.
Silus could not be shocked with himself, however, even if that brief reaction from Cedric had brought disappointment with the reminder of just why the sun sprite was in the pool house with him.
His sprite was in his post-coital glow. Literally, the man was glowing, and it did not sting, burn, or harm Silus one little bit. It must have been a side effect from drinking the sun sprite blood.
If every vampire knew of this then surely there would be more attempting to consume it. Of course, there would also be more deaths every year.
After their session, once Cedric had fought and clawed to remove his gag, he proceeded to push Silus off him and inspect him for any damage caused by drinking his blood again. Silus did not have the seizure he’d had the first time he tasted Cedric, but the light behind his eyes, and the outcome, had been very much the same.
This had not satisfied Cedric in the least, and he punched Silus’s jaw for daring to risk himself again like that, after which Silus was forced to explain the nature of a vampire’s sexual encounters.
Cedric, the little idiot, had laughed at Silus’s embarrassment to have to explain such things to a man he’d been inside mere minutes prior.
“Do you think you could stand out in direct sunlight?”
Silus thought of the slight burning he had felt when he walked out of his bedchamber earlier than recommended. “No. In fact, should you cast off a light any great
er than this little glow, you would hear nothing but loud complaints out of me.”
The glowing on Cedric’s skin dimmed just a little. “I’ll try to keep it mild.” He stretched lazily, nearly knocking himself off the couch as he turned and settled into Silus’s arms. “Don’t want to hurt you.”
A loud thump sounded inside Silus’s chest. His heart. It pulled to hear that a sun sprite of all things wished to keep him, a vampire, safe.
For the love of God, this sprite was his mate. Had to be. He’d claimed him before they had fucked. Cedric obviously did not know what it meant to have a vampire say such a thing, because if he did, he would not be making himself so comfortable in Silus’s arms.
Cedric wanted pleasure, plain and simple. And Silus… He was not certain what he wanted from this man. He knew nothing about him. Not so much as a date of birth or even his favorite color.
A knock sounding from outside had them jumping apart.
“Guys, it’s me.”
That human, Ben. Silus supposed he should be grateful toward the man for being an obviously loyal friend and guard, but his horrid timing only brought hateful feelings up.
Reluctantly, and with an annoyed growl, Silus gathered and put on his clothes, attempting not to let his eyes linger on Cedric’s ass as the sun sprite did the same.
“Will you return tomorrow?”
The question was not a meek one. However this played out, whether for sex, or something infinitely more intimate, Silus needed Cedric to return.
Ruined shirt back on and barely hanging from his shoulders, exposing the many muscled ripples of his stomach and his firm chest as he looped his belt, Cedric’s eyes flashed. He wanted back in Silus’s bed as soon as possible, it seemed. “Yes.”
“Good,” Silus said, irritated with the relief that flooded him, “but wait until I summon you, then you will know if it is safe.”
Cedric grinned broadly, put his hand around Silus’s neck, and kissed him, long and deep. All of Silus’s irritable feelings melted away with the touch of his swollen lips.