With a Kiss
Page 23
As he stared into Marcus’ eyes, suddenly Liam’s words flowed more easily than he could ever imagine.
“I want to stop pretending that I’m not in love with my master, that I don’t want to belong to him in every way any man ever could.”
Liam’s heart raced so fast, he wasn’t even sure he was going to survive for long enough to hear Marcus’ answer. Then, Marcus leaned forward. He brought their lips together. No more relief could have rushed through Liam if the other man had shouted his acceptance at the top of his lungs.
The fact that Marcus hadn’t mentioned feeling the same away about him didn’t seem important. As the kiss ended, all Liam cared about was the fact that his hand was in Marcus’ and his lover was guiding him off the sofa and to his feet.
At the top of the stairs, Liam tried to head to the playroom but Marcus turned him toward the bedroom instead.
“I thought…” Liam whispered.
“You’ve done enough thinking for now,” Marcus said. “Just let your master take you forward from here.”
Liam allowed the other man to lead him into the master bedroom. He stood in the middle of the room alone while the vampire closed the door.
“I’ve wanted you since the first time you visited the hospital,” Marcus whispered in his ear as he stepped up behind him and reached for the hem on Liam’s T-shirt.
Liam closed his eyes, relishing the other man’s words. He lifted his arms as Marcus pulled his T-shirt over his head. Clothing disappeared—and not just his own. Liam was vaguely aware of helping Marcus out of the torn shirt and paw stained trousers, but his mind was somewhere else, rushing forward to anticipate what would happen next.
Every cell in his body sang out with pleasure, overjoyed that his mind finally seemed to have caught up with what his body had known for so long. He wanted his master. He wanted Marcus in a way he had never wanted anyone else, and now, finally, it was going to happen.
There was a strange kind of purity about Marcus’ touch as his hands roved over Liam’s naked body, caressing and inspecting each inch of him in turn. There was no bondage, no blood, not even sex at that moment. There was just them.
Liam took a deep breath. There was no fear either, no ulterior motive that required him to submit to whatever another man wanted to do with him. It was just them and there was no reason at all to remember how things were with anyone else.
Sitting down on the bed between Marcus’ legs, Liam allowed Marcus to guide him into leaning back against his chest.
As positions went, it wasn’t going to be an easy one, but Liam couldn’t bring himself to be worried about that. He was simply going to follow the other man’s lead and trust that Marcus would look after him. Another wave of pleasure raced through him with the idea, with the very possibility that he was still capable of doing such a thing.
Smiling to himself, Liam arched his back, rubbing his skin against Marcus, relishing the way the other man’s erection pressed against him. The vampire’s hand slid around Liam’s body and wrapped around his cock. As he slowly stroked, Marcus seemed to have no intention other than to offer pleasure and to enjoy the way Liam’s cock felt in his hand in return.
Liam murmured his encouragement, his hands sliding over the other man’s arms, relishing the strength in them but not trying to control his movements in the least.
When the other man suddenly leaned to his left, Liam leaned forward slightly and looked over his shoulder. He was just in time to see Marcus reach out and take a set of padded leather cuffs from the drawer by the side of the bed.
“I thought…” Liam trailed off, pretty sure his brain wasn’t really up to thinking about anything other than pleasure, well aware that he wasn’t supposed to be thinking anyway.
“If you needed them to have sex with me, we’d have a problem. But if you just like them, if they make something you want to do anyway even better, that’s different,” Marcus said.
Liam met his gaze over his shoulder. “I like them,” he whispered.
Marcus pressed a kiss against the back of his neck as he fastened the leather around Liam’s right wrist.
Liam focused a little more accurately. Marcus hadn’t taken one pair of cuffs from the drawer, he’d taken two pairs. Half the other pair was soon in place around Liam’s other wrist.
Marcus’ arms wrapped around him then. A second later, they were rolled over and Liam was trapped underneath the other man, pinned to the bed. Instinctive pleasure rushed through him, screaming that this was exactly what he needed. It was impossible for Liam to do anything other than push his arse back against the other man’s crotch in encouragement.
Marcus pulled back a fraction, just far enough to be able to reach up and attach the opposite ends of the cuffs to the rail on the bed frame. Liam’s cock rubbed against the bed sheet beneath him as he squirmed up the mattress a few inches to make it even easier for the vampire to bind him that way.
“Perfect,” Marcus whispered as he pulled back and left Liam laying there all on his own.
Liam swallowed, sure that he wasn’t anything of the sort, but loving the other man for saying it anyway. Another dip into that same drawer by the side of the bed, and Marcus smeared lube onto his fingers. Liam shuffled his legs farther apart in anticipation.
The vampire’s touch was incredibly gentle as he stroked the slickness against Liam’s hole, circling the tight ring of muscle with his fingertips. Liam rocked his hips trying to push back and let the other man know there was no need to be that careful with him.
“Patience,” Marcus chided, but there was only amusement in his voice. There was no anger there.
Liam smiled into the pillow and closed his eyes, concentrating on memorizing each sensation the other man offered him. As he relaxed, the vampire’s finger pressed against his hole, slipping inside him, before withdrawing.
Again and again, Marcus worked his finger inside him, before letting a second digit join in the fun and stretch him open a little further. “That’s right,” Marcus murmured.
Liam made an approving noise in the back of his throat, but he couldn’t manage words right then. His entire brain was focused on analyzing more pleasure than he’d ever known was possible. Marcus added another finger. They crooked inside him, stroking against Liam’s prostate.
Gasping into the pillow, Liam jerked, pulling at his cuffs, thriving on the way they kept him still and helpless.
“Do you like that, Liam?”
Liam managed to rub his face into the pillow in something like a nod. The other man seemed to get the idea that he loved it, even if Liam still couldn’t make words happen.
Suddenly, the fingers disappeared. Liam lifted his head, looking over his shoulder, desperately trying to work out what he had done wrong and how to fix it.
The bed shifted as Marcus moved closer, until his body descended and covered Liam’s smaller frame.
Liam whimpered his relief as he felt Marcus’ slicked cock slide between his cheeks. The vampire dipped his head and nuzzled at his neck. Liam tilted his head, offering easier access to the vein but the other man only kissed the skin as he rocked his hips and let the tip of his cock rub against his hole.
Liam’s whimpers quickly turned frustrated. He was on the edge of insanity when Marcus finally gave him one half of what he wanted. The vampire’s teeth scraped against his neck. Liam felt the blood seep against the skin.
Marcus groaned as he seemed to taste every bit of Liam’s desire. Finally, just as Liam was sure he was going to lose his mind completely, Marcus thrust forward, burying his cock deep inside Liam’s body in one strong motion.
A moment of intense panic flashed through Liam as he closed his eyes and the memory of another man and another time pushed its way to the forefront of his mind. Liam automatically tried to reach for his collar. The cuffs stopped his hands short.
“All mine,” Marcus murmured in his ear.
Liam opened his eyes. Yes, he was all Marcus’. That was right. His body relaxed with the knowled
“That’s right,” Marcus coaxed, rocking his hips slightly, letting Liam feel his cock move inside him, stretching him open, filling him completely.
Marcus lapped at his neck again. It wasn’t a real bite, there was hardly any blood there, Liam knew that. The other man was just tasting him, checking he was okay while he was too lost in his emotions to speak.
Mewing his satisfaction as best he could, Liam tugged at the cuffs again as he tried to move in a way that might please the other man. Marcus rocked his hips once more, then again. Slowly, he established a rhythm, pushing deep into Liam’s arse over and over, until that rhythm was the only thing that existed in the world, until it was impossible to remember a time when Marcus hadn’t been inside him.
Liam lost himself in the waves of ecstasy that radiated through his body. There was no beginning to it, no end. He was adrift in the middle of an ocean, out of sight of all land. And he still knew he was safe. In that moment, nothing else mattered. The cuffs around his wrists, the collar around his neck, there was nothing more he could ask for from life.
“Come for me,” Marcus whispered against his neck.
The words went straight to Liam’s cock.
One more hard thrust against his prostate and Liam obeyed. As pure bliss exploded inside him, he felt Marcus’ teeth sink into his neck and the other man began to feed in earnest.
Time passed, but it had no meaning for Liam. It was something that happened to other people, people who weren’t as lucky as him. As pleasure faded away, he gradually became aware of other sensations.
Marcus pulling away from him, the other man cleaning them both up and undoing the cuffs. Through it all, Liam’s mind floated on wave after wave of perfection. He just bobbed on that ocean’s currents, trusting Marcus to steer them right.
By the time anything like a real thought process re-established itself inside his mind, Liam was curled up against the vampire’s side, his head resting on Marcus’ chest. “I don’t want you to go to sleep,” he whispered to his master.
Marcus tensed. Any trace of sleepiness fled from his body as if chased by some kind of predator that could even scare a vampire. “What’s wrong?”
Liam shook his head, rubbing his cheek against Marcus’ chest with the motion. “Nothing’s wrong, I just…I don’t want you to go to sleep.”
He was aware of Marcus frowning down at the top of his head, but Liam didn’t lift his gaze.
“Sometimes, with Ralph, when I knew he was in a bad mood. If we… I knew he’d go to sleep straight after we had sex, so I’d suggest we…”
“Oh.” Marcus didn’t seem sure what else to say.
“But with you, it will never be because I want you to go to sleep,” Liam whispered.
Marcus pulled away a little. Tucking a knuckle under his chin he made Liam look up and meet his gaze. “That might be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard any man say.”
A blush came to Liam’s cheeks, but it was one of happiness, not embarrassment. “It’s true,” he said with a little shrug before snuggling back into the other man’s side. He closed his eyes. Sleep claimed him almost immediately.
Chapter Fourteen
“We won’t be dining alone tonight.”
Liam glanced across the car at Marcus’ profile. After an entire day of chasing an insane collie who could run a hell of a lot faster than he could, Liam had been looking forward to doing nothing more than snuggling up with the other man in the big double bed that he was finally coming to think of theirs instead of merely Marcus’. But, suddenly, the idea of relaxing flew from Liam’s mind.
He straightened up in his seat, giving Marcus his full attention.
“There are a couple of people I’d like you to meet with,” Marcus went on as he changed gears.
“Vampires?” Liam asked, hardly daring to hope. “The ones you’ve been speaking to.”
“No, there’ll be plenty of time for you to meet them later,” Marcus said, his eyes still firmly fixed on the road in front of him. “The people you’ll be meeting tonight are more important than that.”
Liam shifted slightly, shuffling his feet against the mat on the car’s floor. “Okay?” he hazarded.
Marcus’ hand came to rest on Liam’s knee. “There’s nothing to worry about. They’re going to be thrilled to see you.”
“Is it your family?” Liam guessed. A hand clamped down around his stomach as the prospect of meeting his boyfriend’s parents. A wave of panic raced through him. He had no idea what kind of person they might have imagined Marcus ending up with, but he was pretty sure he wouldn’t fit the bill.
It was going to be like when his parents met Ralph all over again, only this time—
Marcus let out a strange half laugh that cut straight through every thought in Liam’s head. “Vampires aren’t really a family orientated species in the same way humans are.”
“Oh…” Strangely enough, that didn’t make him feel any better. Liam’s hand went to his collar as he sought for reassurance. He studied Marcus’ profile, but his master seemed determined not to look back at him, not even for the briefest possible moment, no matter how quiet the road was.
Marcus squeezed Liam’s knee as if he were seeking to reassure him, but he still didn’t look in his direction. Marcus had to take back his hand in order to turn into the driveway leading up to the house. Liam’s leg quickly turned cold. A shiver ran down his spine.
The idea of curling up in their bed came back. Only this time, he just wanted to hide under the covers.
There was a car in the drive that Liam didn’t recognize. It looked far more sensible than Liam could imagine any of Marcus’ friends driving. He frowned at it as if the vehicle might speak up and tell him what the hell was going on. The car remained silent.
“They’re here already?” Liam blurted out. He looked down at his clothes. The bottom two thirds of the trousers were still covered in collie hair. He probably smelled like a wet dog after the way the little bugger had soaked him when he finally caught it to bathe it.
A shower and a change of clothes suddenly became essential, a little while to talk himself into appearing calm, even if he was sure no amount of time in the world would allow him to actually be calm, was even more vital.
Marcus pulled up and got out of the car. Liam tried to make his own limbs move, but they didn’t want to obey his brain. It wasn’t until Marcus turned chauffeur and walked around to open Liam’s door that he moved a single muscle.
Liam might have been completely incapable of getting out of the car. But, it turned out that he was very able to put his hand in his master’s grip and allow Marcus to guide him out of the low slung space and into the house.
“I’ll just go up and…” he began to whisper as they stepped across the threshold.
At that moment, a voice floated through to Liam from the morning room. He knew that voice. Liam looked up at Marcus. “I…I don’t understand,” he whispered.
Marcus said nothing; he just looked down at Liam, his eyes very serious. Liam stared up at him in return, really looked at him.
The vampire’s shoulders were tense, his jaw clenched. He hadn’t relaxed as they arrived home. Liam wasn’t the only one who was nervous about the people they were about to meet.
That same voice floated through the hallway again. Liam looked over his shoulder. Unable to resist its allure, he cautiously crept closer to the door. It hadn’t been shut tight behind the last person to enter. Keeping out of sight as best he could, Liam peeked in through the gap.
For a moment, all he was able to see was the back of Mr. Jenson’s coat as the butler walked past the door. Then, the view cleared.
Mr. Jenson handed Mrs. Jenson a drink. At any other time Liam would have been shocked to see them sitting in the morning room. They had their quarters and any suggestion that they relax anywhere else would have been met by stern disapproval, from both of them if no one else. But right then, Liam didn’t have any room left in his brain for any extra shock.
His gaze moved slowly over Jenny and Diana, but Liam barely paused to wonder what the hell they were doing there. He knew that voice and—
The breath rushed from Liam’s lungs as his gaze fell on the final two occupants of the morning room. His mother and father sat next to each other on a small sofa. They had to have been beamed down there from some sort of alien spaceship. There was no other explanation.
His father’s grip on his mother’s hand was white knuckled.
“Mr. Corrigan and Mr. Bates will be home soon,” Mr. Jenson said. Liam dragged his attention away from his parents for long enough to see the encouraging look Mrs. Jenson gave her husband. The butler cleared his throat. “In the meantime, if I may make an observation?”
Every occupant of the room seemed to nod in sync.
Mr. Jenson cleared his throat. “I’m sure you’ve heard enough horror stories about vampires and the way they’ve treated humans over the years. My wife and I practically raised Mr. Corrigan. We’re under no illusions about vampires in general or about him in particular. He’s been as guilty of unwitting cruelty as any of them in the past.”
“We,” Liam saw his mother look toward his father. A moment of silent communication passed between them. “We’re not looking to come between Liam and, and Mr.—”
“And Marcus,” Mrs. Jenson cut in. “There’s no need for formality.”
“Between Liam and Marcus,” his mother finished with a nod toward the other woman.
“It’s only natural that you have concerns,” Mr. Jenson said, with a glance down at the glass in his hand. “If they’d met under different circumstances, I’d even agree that they’d be warranted.”
There was no way Liam could look away from the scene in the morning room then. He hung onto every word as if it were a tabloid drama playing out right in front of him.
“In other circumstances, Marcus may well have used and discarded Liam like he would any other human. But, while he was in his coma he had no choice but to listen to Liam—to get to know him the way he’s never known another human and learn to see him as something other than a blood supply.”
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