“I’ve got it.” He scooted up on the bed and pressed a lingering kiss to my pulse, and his tongue flicked out, rasping over my skin. “Mmm. You taste good.”
I cupped the back of his head, urging him closer, and heat slid through me. “Take what you need.”
“Not until you feed.”
“Eric, come on.”
“I’m serious, Jase. Your body used up a lot of blood trying to get you through three days without food.”
“That’s not why you won’t feed from me.”
“It is today.” He crawled over me and padded into the bedroom. “We’ll talk about it later.”
The door snicked shut. The toilet lid clanked against the tank. A sharply hitched breath drifted through the closed door, and my heart twisted painfully in my chest. I scrubbed my palms over my face. Some favorite I was. My lover was in the bathroom jerking off because I couldn’t satisfy him anymore. As loyal as Eric was, as much as he cared for me, it was hard to ignore the fact that he needed a fully functional favorite by his side. When he found somebody else, he’d take Gianna with him, and I’d go back to being exactly what I’d been before she’d brought me to him. Alone, lonely, and hopelessly in love with a woman I could never have.
Kyle brought us some t-shirts and elastic-waisted shorts. Eric pulled his on and helped me dress, then Kyle carried me into the sparsely furnished living room where a handful of informally dressed pets had gathered, most sprawled out on the beige carpet. Trillium was nowhere in sight, and maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. The last thing Eric and I needed on our plates was having to kowtow to a bat shit crazy vampire.
Bon brought us plates of piping hot lasagna and a crisp salad, and we ate while he, Kyle, and the other pets caught us up on local gossip. The juiciest tidbit was Oriana’s complete meltdown after Fen returned to her mansion without me and Eric. A little birdy told Kyle she’d torn the house apart in a fit of rage.
Which probably didn’t bode well for our luggage.
Word had already spread about the pets Eric had killed without even touching them, and a couple of the younger pets cast discreet, side-eyed glances at him. I didn’t catch a sense of fear emanating from them, but I didn’t have to. Reputation was everything among the Vampyr. Eric’s was growing by leaps and bounds. If he hadn’t had to go through a lot of shit at Oriana’s, I’d be happier about it. We could still use it to our advantage, though, no matter how the reputation had been formed. Well, Eric could. He was the strategist in our family. I was just the bonded muscle.
After we finished eating, Bon sat down beside me and gave me his wrist, and I fed while Eric spooled his strength into our bond, helping me control the bloodlust. I only took exactly what I needed and not a drop more. When it came time for mine and Eric’s talk later, blood and sex were at the top of the fucking agenda.
We chatted with Trillium’s pets for a long time. Eric gradually relaxed. His fingertips feathered across the back of my hand, and I finally gave in and flipped my hand over. His palm immediately settled against mine. Some of my earlier anxiety melted away. Maybe he wouldn’t be so quick to discard me if I couldn’t figure out either how to heal my legs or how to fulfill my duties as his favorite without being able to have sex.
He leaned his shoulder against mine. You fulfill me, Jase. Stop worrying about me leaving you.
I hate it when you read my mind without me knowing you’re there.
Then quit being irrational. He caught Kyle’s attention and stood, my hand still firmly wrapped in his. “Jason and I have some things we need to take care of.”
Kyle pushed himself off the leather-upholstered recliner. “I’ll carry him back for you.”
“If you could locate a wheelchair, I’d be grateful.”
“We’re already working on it.” Kyle turned a half-grin on me. “Another two minutes and we could’ve brought yours with us.”
I snorted out a laugh. “Yeah, right. You’re forgetting the Fen-led mob hot on our tails.”
“That’s what made it so interesting.”
Eric cut a curious glance at me from beneath lowered lashes. “Sounds like I missed all the excitement.”
I squeezed his hand. “I’ll make it up to you.”
His slow smile triggered an answering warmth inside me. Yeah, maybe things weren’t all that bad if he could still look at me like I was the only man in the room.
Taking care of business was a lot harder when you needed help, and figuring out the logistics took up way too much of my time. Kyle helped me and didn’t hint even once that he was interested in anything besides getting me in and out of the bathroom as smoothly as possible.
He was pretty damn good at it, too.
When my nightly ablutions were finished, Kyle tucked me in bed while Eric went into the bathroom and saw to his own needs. Kyle sat down on the bed beside me and braced a hand across my body next to my hip. “Do you think the two of you can help me feed Trillium in a day or two?”
I shrugged. “Depends on Eric. I don’t think he’s fully healed yet.”
“Not quite. I can send Bon or one of the other pets in if he needs more blood.”
“Maybe later.”
“Sure.” His gaze dropped to my bare chest and I caught the faintest whiff of a budding arousal. “Eric seems overly possessive.”
“I tried to warn you.”
“You did. I should’ve taken advantage while he couldn’t do anything about it.”
“Yeah, ‘cause he’d totally forget about it and let bygones be bygones.” I rolled my eyes. “Look, Eric doesn’t really have a problem with me having sex. We’re just in a, uh…”
“Bad situation?”
“Something like that.”
Kyle shifted closer on the bed. “I heard about his wife.”
“Our wife,” I murmured. Hadn’t she been ours for a short, blissful time, the three of us a perfect trinity? “She broke all our bonds trying to keep us from watching her die. It took weeks for me and Eric to rebuild we.”
One corner of Kyle’s mouth turned down. “It shouldn’t have taken that long.”
It wouldn’t have, if Eric weren’t so fucking stubborn about sex. “Breaking our family bond did a lot of damage. We’re still healing.”
“No, you’re not,” he said, and his voice was hard and flat. “There’s nothing wrong with you, Jason. I’ve tried again and again to pinpoint whatever it is that’s causing your paralysis, and I can’t find a goddamn thing. Your brain is fine. Scarred, yes, but completely whole. Your nerves are fully functional, and your legs… They’re one hundred percent.”
I gritted my teeth together. “You know, I’ve had it up to here with people telling me that, like I’m just pretending I can’t feel my legs.”
His expression softened. “That’s not what I’m saying.”
“Then what?”
He skimmed his fingers over my temple, then down my sternum, over my heart. “Have you ever considered that there might be a psychological reason behind your paralysis?”
The bathroom door opened and Eric padded out, but my gaze was fixed on Kyle and the impossible scenario he’d suggested. “I want to walk. I want to have sex and play basketball and fucking be normal. Goddamn it, Kyle, I want to be whole again.”
“Do you?” He leaned forward and pressed a chaste kiss to my mouth. “If you need anything, let me know.”
He nodded to Eric and left, and Eric sat down in the still-warm spot Kyle had vacated. “What was that about?”
I shook my head. “Crazy vampire shit.”
“Didn’t sound crazy to me.” His eyes narrowed on my mouth. “You let him kiss you.”
“Oh, Jesus God, Eric. Don’t pull out the green-eyed monster just because he’s not afraid of you.”
His mouth twitched. “I’m not jealous.”
“Bullshit,” I said, but there was no heat behind the word. “Come here.”
“I don’t think—”
I wrapped a hand around his nape and tugged him
against my chest. “Kiss me before I change my mind and call Kyle back in here.”
“Do and I won’t be responsible for what happens.”
“Is that so?” I brushed my mouth across his. His lips were smooth, supple, undamaged, and they were mine. “I was worried about you.”
“I’m fine, now that you and Kyle rescued me.” He touched his forehead to mine and his breath puffed gently across my mouth. “We need to talk.”
“Later,” I said, and eased him into a tender, welcoming kiss.
Chapter Eight
Eric’s fingers slid under my t-shirt and skidded along my ribs, and heat slid through me. I broke the kiss and cupped his face. It was almost like cradling a child. He was so much smaller than me, at least eight inches shorter and not nearly as bulky. I’d always liked that about him, his slender build, his elegant frame, his perfectly proportioned limbs, sleek and leanly muscled.
He smiled, slow and sensual, and the glow in his hazel eyes deepened, turning the color almost golden. “I never knew that.”
“What?”
“That you liked the way I’m put together.”
I squeezed his waist in a gentle reprimand. “Stop peeking into my head.”
“Stop trying to hide things from me. When we’re this close, I feel everything, know everything.” He nipped my lips and nibbled his way across my jaw and down my throat. “I love it, especially when I’m here at your pulse. You smell so good.”
The last word came out on a low growl, spiking desire through me. “You’re hungry.”
“Not for food.”
He rubbed the flat of his tongue over my pulse. His fingers edged upward under my shirt and skimmed across my nipple, tweaking it into a tight nub. My skin tingled under his touch. God, that was good. It’d been ages since he’d touched me like that, a lifetime, maybe, and I’d missed it.
His teeth scraped along my neck, and I sucked in a breath. “Tease.”
“No, baby,” he said softly. “I’m sorry if I made you feel like I don’t want you.”
I shifted under him and stared up at the plain, white ceiling. “It’s not that, exactly.”
“Jase, please, don’t lie. I heard you back in the stone room, when Kyle kissed you.”
The memory popped into my head, fed into our bond by Eric, of him suffering under Fen’s torture, of Kyle yanking my head back and kissing me. A single thought, in my voice, echoed back to me from Eric’s mind.
Why doesn’t Eric kiss me like that anymore?
I cringed as the memory faded and I was alone again in my head. “Christ, Eric. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. You should’ve told me a long time ago that you needed…” He huffed out a laugh and his breath feathered along the damp spot he’d left on my skin. “I should’ve known you needed more.”
“You didn’t think I could handle sex anymore.”
“No, Jase, it wasn’t that.” He eased back and met my gaze evenly. “It’s not fair that I can feel and you can’t. Every time we try this, that’s what I think.”
“I can still feel.”
“Not like before.”
“Ok, yeah, but I still enjoy sex.”
He glanced sharply away. “But it shouldn’t be a duty, Jase.”
My hands slid off him and thudded into my lap. “Is that what you think, that everything I do for you is out of duty? Christ, Eric.”
“I know you don’t love me the way I love you.” A soft ache throbbed through our bond and was quickly cut off. “I know you’re only with me because of Gianna.”
Well, fuck. He had a tiny point there. “That’s some of it.”
“That’s most of it.”
“Like you’re only with me because you need a favorite?” I snorted out a laugh. “Goddamn, Eric. I know you don’t like men, but even I know better than that. You wouldn’t be with me if you didn’t care about me, whether you needed my discipline and strength or not. Why can’t you believe I’m with you for the same reason?”
He bowed his head and his shoulders slumped, and for the first time since I’d met him, he seemed weak, lost. Alone. “That night I tested you. Do you remember?”
Oh, fuck, yeah. His mouth on my dick, my fingers in her pussy. That was the first night me and him and Gianna had been together. It was the first time I’d ever been with a man and a woman at the same time, and it was the first time I’d ever believed I could actually have exactly what I’d always needed. How in God’s name could I ever forget that? “I remember.”
“You asked me not to tell anyone you were bi, begged me, really.” His gaze met mine, and to my absolute horror, tears shimmered in his eyes. “I talked myself into believing we could make it work, the three of us, together. I told myself it wasn’t all about the sex.”
“It’s not.”
“But the fact that I was willing to share Gigi with you and needed you in my life and wouldn’t tell anybody what you were? That was huge.” His laughter held a raw edge of disbelief. “Come on, Jase. You jumped at the opportunity to have sex with me.”
“Yeah, ‘cause you’re fucking hot.”
Pink flooded his pale cheeks. “I am not.”
I tilted his face toward mine and held him there, forcing him to face me. “You are the hottest guy I’ve ever known. I’ve wanted you since the first minute I saw you, so yeah, when you were ready to have sex, I wasn’t waiting around for you to change your mind. That doesn’t mean I don’t care about you. Christ, Eric, how could you think that?”
“You opened yourself to the cold man, back in that room when Oriana’s pets were coming after me, and I saw everything, things you’ve deliberately held back, away from our bond.” A sigh shuddered out of him and his eyelids fluttered closed. His eyelashes were a dark smudge across his skin, a perfect arc in the symmetry of his hauntingly delicate features. “Things you didn’t want me to know, like the first time you were with a man.”
There was something there, something elusive and faint, something that bothered him about that time. I tried chasing it down, but it was gone in a flash. I inhaled through my nose. Eric had always been better at mind games than me. I’d just have to outwait him and try to worm it out of him when he wasn’t expecting me to dig deeper.
“So now you’re doubting me?” I asked.
“No, not that, just—”
“You’re doubting me,” I said flatly. “I care about you, Eric, so much, and I miss being with you. You have my loyalty, my life. Hell, you’re the best friend I’ve ever had.”
“And that’s why you’re with me.”
“That and the whole wanting your smokin’ hot bod thing. I’m telling you, baby, if we don’t have some kind of sex soon, I’m gonna rip my hair out.”
His eyes flashed open and he smiled, so sweet. “So you’re horny.”
“You bet your tight little ass, I am.” I tugged him against my chest and cupped my palm over the back of his head, smoothing down his unruly hair. “I think your little chat with Fen and company messed you up more than you’re admitting to, if this is what you’re fixating on.”
“I’m not fixating.” He mumbled the words against my chest, warming my skin through my t-shirt with his breath. “It hurt learning I’m not what you need.”
“I never said you weren’t.”
“You thought it.”
“You’re holding back. I’m sorry I need more.”
“We can’t both apologize.”
I shrugged, jostling his head. “Why not? If we’re gonna argue…”
His fingertips curled into my shirt, lightly scraping my skin. “Is that what we’re doing?”
“Yeah, and you know what happens after an argument, right?”
“Make up sex?” he said, and the humor in his voice goaded my own.
“Damn straight. Now, get your clothes off so I can kiss every single inch of you I can reach.”
“Every single inch, huh.” He slid off the bed, pulled his t-shirt off, and wadded it up on the nightstand. “Is that w
hat you need?”
“For starters. Trust me, I’ve got a list.” I shrugged my t-shirt off and patted my lap. “Straddle me.”
“Shorts on or off?”
“Definitely off. Mine, too.”
He stripped off his shorts, then helped me wiggle out of mine. We were both nude underneath, thanks to Oriana’s thievery. Him nude was always good. If I had my way, he’d never wear clothes again.
He grinned as he straddled my thighs. “I’m not walking around naked all the time.”
“Well, damn. There goes that fantasy.” I skimmed my fingertips over the fading bruises marring the perfectly smooth beauty of his skin. “How do you feel, really?”
“I’m still a little dizzy. Some of the scars twinge every now and then.” He shrugged. “Not bad for a man tortured who was for three days.”
“We’re not ever letting that happen again.”
“I’m all for that, but it’s no guarantee.” He shifted closer and braced his hands against the wall behind me on either side of my head, and the tip of his erection brushed over my abs. “I don’t think I can wait for you to kiss every inch.”
“It’s ok, baby. We can always do that later.” I slid a thumb along his lower lip. “Show me first.”
“You and your vampire fetish,” he muttered.
“What can I say? I’ve got a thing for sexy geeks with fangs. Now, open up.”
His lips parted and his tongue flicked out, catching the tip of my finger. His fangs were partially descended, the ends slightly longer than they normally were.
I rubbed the pad of my thumb along the jagged edge of his teeth. “More.”
He opened his mouth wider and his fangs slid all the way down.
“That’s it, baby,” I murmured. “I love that. Sink them into me.”
His eyes flashed hot and a little wild, then his hand encircled my wrist and forced my hand down onto his thigh. He struck, hard and swift, and dug his teeth into the skin over my pulse. The pain of his bite morphed into deep, molten pleasure as he sucked, and I gasped. Oh, God, that was good, so good. I rolled my head to the side, giving him as much room as he needed. He could stay there all day, for all I cared, draining the lifeblood out of me.
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