by Dakota Dawn
“Thanks. It helps to have good customers, like you.” Something crazy was happening in his chest. Darrin’s praise and enjoyment of working with his plants was making ecstatic joy bloom in his heart. Nobody had ever made him feel like this before.
“I know quality when I see it,” Darrin replied. His green gaze swept over Pierce and then looked at the plants in the greenhouse.
Pierce had a sudden urge to jump Darrin and roughly make love with the man all night long. A part of his soul knew the gorgeous male wasn’t just flattering him. Darrin meant every word he’d just said. Those green eyes couldn’t lie. Darrin’s honest praise ignited immeasurable passion in him. Seeing the bare grape stem on Darrin’s plate flicked a switch in him. He had to know what the ruggedly handsome guy’s mouth tasted like after eating fruit.
Not able to hold back a second longer, Pierce jumped up and rounded the table. He pushed it back and straddled Darrin’s lap. With only hunger driving him, he held the guy’s head in place as he thrust his tongue into Darrin’s mouth. He moaned the moment his questing tongue tasted Darrin’s flavor with a hint of fruit. Marvelous.
As he greedily explored Darrin’s fresh mouth, his hips started rocking. If he could, he’d crawl under Darrin’s skin and become one with the sexy man. His hands journeyed down and caressed his lover’s strong shoulders. Every dip and groove turned him on more. Darrin rocking his own hips showed that the man was open to some hot loving.
The man’s hands gripped his ass and started rocking them both harder. He kissed his way across Darrin’s scarred cheek and down to the guy’s neck. When he nipped his lover’s solid neck, Darrin hissed. That sound was sure to send sparks flying through his pelvis and it did.
Wanting another taste of his lover’s mouth, he kissed and nipped his way up to Darrin’s mouth and delved deep. He was startled when he ran his tongue over his lover’s teeth and nicked his tongue. Flashes of his vampire dream lovers bombarded his mind. His tongue hurt so good.
Darrin growled and sucked Pierce’s injured tongue. That was hot.
God, this guy lights my fire.
Fire.
He slowed down and listened. Darrin seemed to also. Once he caught his second whiff of smoke, he climbed off Darrin’s lap. A man was standing at one of his doorways about twenty yards away. The man was carrying a torch.
No fucking way!
The fire packing man’s eyes locked with his and the guy blinked a few times before he started chanting must kill. This couldn’t be happening to him. Who the hell are these people?
He took a step in the man’s direction when the guy put the torch to a stack of empty burlap bags he’d received some soil in. They quickly caught fire.
Darrin turned caveman and shoved Pierce behind him. What Darrin didn’t know was that he didn’t need any help. Another man entered through the back door. As he rushed the new guy, Darrin growled and went after the fire starter.
Pissed as hell, he grabbed some shears and charged the man. He took a blow to the head, but the shears sank deeply into the crazy man’s upper abdomen. He twisted them and ripped the shears from his enemy’s torso. The man continued chanting as he sank to his knees and fell over dead.
Turning, he saw Darrin snap another invader’s neck. The first guy was dead on the ground. The next one soon lay beside him. Darrin hissed and then roared. Pierce’s heart stopped.
Darrin’s eyes were red and he had fangs. Dangerous looking fangs. Pierce couldn’t help himself, he turned and ran away from his savage-looking lover. The hissing made sense now. What didn’t make sense was why it turned him on.
Pierce looked back as he ran for the door. Darrin was coming after him. He picked up his pace and ran right into a body.
“Must kill…must kill…must kill.” Hands locked around his throat.
A roar sounded from behind him. One blink later, Darrin was behind the bad guy, snapping the man’s neck. Shaking from head to toe, he wondered if Darrin was going to kill him next.
He took a shuddering breath and choked. The fire had spread and smoke was filling the greenhouse. Darrin growled in a scary, possessive way and grabbed Pierce up and rushed them at least seventy yards from the burning greenhouse. The man ran at supernatural speed.
He watched as Darrin scanned the area. To his surprise the red faded away from the man’s eyes, revealing those mesmerizing green peepers. Darrin shocked him when he suddenly released him and turned away and threw up. The poor guy dropped to his hands and knees and was heaving and puking like a human with a stomach virus.
A battle raged inside him. Part of him wanted to help Darrin and the other part wanted to run for his life. Deciding he needed time to figure out his feelings, he turned and ran. The bellow of rage that came from behind him had him running faster.
A gust of air whooshed from his lungs when he was suddenly tackled from behind. What the fuck? He hadn’t even heard footsteps closing in on him. His stomach churned. Knowing he needed his wits about him, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
His stomach lurched again when the ground beneath him changed into something soft and thick. A startled squeak came from his chest when he opened his eyes and found that he was lying on carpet with Darrin still pinning him down and growling.
He looked around and saw that they were in a living room and they weren’t alone. Drake, Tristan, Conlin, and a stranger were in the room.
“Darrin, what are you doing?” Conlin asked in a high-pitched voice.
The large stranger jumped to his feet and sniffed the air. His fangs shot out of his gums.
“Oh shit!” Tristan exclaimed. “Conlin, go in the other room, now.”
“Why?”
Darrin’s head snapped back and he sniffed the air and growled. His eyes flashed red and he bared his fangs.
“I’ll be leaving now,” Conlin said over his shoulder.
Drake held up his hands in surrender, and asked, “Who are your mates?”
“Those two. What are their names?” the man asked, never taking his eyes off of Pierce and Darrin.
“The one on top is Darrin, Conlin’s brother, and the other is Pierce. Darrin met him a few days ago and brought him here beat up,” Tristan filled the man in.
Pierce looked up and right into the bluest eyes he’d ever seen. They were sporadically flashing red like Darrin’s did. Heat ricocheted all through his body. The need to fuck the blued-eyed man and Darrin slammed into him. He squirmed, needing to be closer to the blue-eyed male. He hoped Darrin would follow. First, he had to get away from Darrin or try pulling the man along with him like a wrestler inching toward the ropes with his opponent on his back. He was strong, he should be able to do it.
“Quickly, tell me about them,” the blue-eyed man urged Tristan.
“Pierce is a tough transgender and Darrin is a two-year-old vampire. Darrin has been battling his need to bite Pierce for days. Looks like he wants you now as well. To my knowledge he’s never bitten anyone. He has shown extreme control over himself so far,” Tristan said.
“That explains the feelings coming off both of them,” Blue Eyes stated.
Darrin hissed and then pushed off Pierce. He stood and put his hands over his mouth.
Fuck, he needed both men so badly he was burning up. Darrin was struggling with his own control, but Blue Eyes wasn’t. Needing him, Pierce jumped up, pulled off his shirt, and threw it to the floor. He started unbuttoning his jeans as he stalked toward Blue Eyes.
Darrin hissed and tackled him from behind. He was quickly flipped over. As Darrin reached for his zipper, Blue Eyes said, “Stop.” Darrin looked at Blue Eyes and begged with his green eyes. Pierce had a feeling his eyes were just as puppy-looking as he looked up at the hot man.
Blue Eyes looked at Tristan and Drake. “We’ll have to finish our visit later. My mates need a lot of attention.”
“Yes, they do. Congrats on the mating. They are both fine men,” Tristan said and Drake nodded his agreement.
Darrin hissed and the
alluring stranger sped to them and grabbed them both.
Pierce didn’t care who saw, he needed to fuck both of these men, now. When Blue Eyes grabbed him, he was ready to shuck his pants. All he got was a churning stomach. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them he was on a huge bed with both of the other men.
Fire shot through his groin. He had to have them. “Fuck me right now,” he demanded.
Darrin hissed and reached for him.
Blue Eyes shook his head.
No way was he leaving that hot man out. “You, too,” he commanded.
Whipping his head to Blue Eyes, Darrin hissed and reached for the man, but seemed to come to his senses, because he clamped his hands over his mouth again, totally covering his fangs.
Blue Eyes reached out and touched both of them. “Soon, my mates. Take a breath and calm down.”
Pierce tried, but he couldn’t, he needed these two men between his legs. “I can’t.”
Blue Eyes looked at Darrin. “You’re closer to controlling yourself. I need you to stay right there and keep up the good work. I’ll help you in just a moment.” Darrin nodded but didn’t take his hands off his mouth.
The hot blue-eyed man turned his attention to Pierce. “You, on the other hand, are too deep in mating heat. Look into my eyes and see what you can find.”
Pierce looked into the soulful eyes and felt his body start to relax. Within moments his eyes felt heavy and the fire in his body eased to a simmer. His last thought was that vampires were real!
Chapter Five
Zotikos Vaughter had been waiting for his mate for over eight hundred years. Now he had two. That was a wonderful surprise. That they both needed him in different ways didn’t bother him at all. After all these years, he was ready for the challenge.
Darrin was staring at him like he was food. To a point, he was. They’d all need one another for the rest of their lives. Vampires and their mates were essentially real food as well as food for the soul.
“First off my name is Zotikos Vaughter. I’m a vampire-elf mix. I’m also an empath. Which means I know you’re afraid of biting us. Unfortunately, mated vampires have to bite their mates to bond with each other through the serum we release into our mates.” Zotikos stroked Darrin’s arm, sending out a wave of calm. He’d just learned to channel this ability from the elder elves. A smile curled his lips when Darrin started to relax.
“I know you can do this. You’ll find that it’s not hard. The vampire in you will instinctively go for the vessel you aim for. What you’ll have to learn is when to stop. With time you’ll be able to enjoy our blood, give up pleasure, and monitor our heartbeat at the same time. A slow heartbeat means you have to stop.”
Zotikos patted the bed. Darrin hesitated and then moved so that he sat right next to Zotikos. His nervous mate looked back at Pierce, who was still out on the bed.
“What did you do to him?” Darrin asked.
“I put him in a semisleep state. He’s so relaxed he can’t move. Pierce is resting and will be easy to wake up when we’re ready to mate,” he answered.
“Okay, as long as he’s all right,” the young vamp responded. Zotikos was glad Darrin had already created enough of a bond with Pierce to be concerned about him.
“He is. His need to jump us is because he’s waited too long to mate after meeting you. He needs the mating bond serum from his mate’s fangs,” he informed with compassion. It was hard to be so young in this world.
“I can’t bite him, he’s human. I’ll hurt him, maybe even kill him.” Darrin expressed his fear loudly.
“You don’t have to now that I’m here. Not today that is. Once you have practiced on me a few times you’ll need to bite him. He needs your serum as well. Mine alone will be enough to calm him for now.” Zotikos took his shirt off and traced a vessel in his forearm with his finger.
“Let my pulse draw you in. Go on feed from me,” he encouraged. Darrin licked his lips. He could feel the man’s fear, it was starting to grow. “You can do it.”
Darrin nodded and Zotikos brought his arm up. The young vampire leaned down to his arm and put his mouth on Zotikos’s cool skin. Darrin’s fangs raked across his arm. They never sank in, though.
After a minute, Darrin pulled back. “I can’t do it. I hate violence. I always throw up after killing a person. Like I did tonight.”
“You had to kill tonight?” he asked as his mind raced back to their dramatic entrance into Tristan’s living room.
“Yes. I was at Pierce’s when the men from a group that tried to kill him a few days ago showed back up and tried to kill him again tonight. The beast in me came out and Pierce freaked when he realized I wasn’t human. I pounced on him and brought him to Tristan and Conlin’s rooms.”
“Looks like we have a lot to talk about, but right now we have to teach you to bite nicely.” He shook his finger at the young vamp when he saw doubt fill those green eyes. “You’re not going to kill me. Don’t think of this as being a violent act. Think of it as a traditional bonding ceremony.” Zotikos could feel Darrin’s hope mixed with a hint of doubt. He knew what Darrin needed.
Mating heat.
Turning, he looked into Darrin’s beautiful eyes. Channeling passion, he watched as Darrin’s eyes widened and his nostrils flared. Running his thumb down the jagged scar on his mate’s left cheek was like reliving the pain. He wished he could have been there to save the man. Pierce as well. The poor guy still had stitches in his forehead. What a pair these two were. Leaning forward, he kissed the scar that ran from Darrin’s upper cheek to the edge of his mouth.
From the edge Zotikos easily slipped his tongue into Darrin’s mouth. Their tongues met and a shot of lust arrowed down his chest and straight to his cock. He could feel Darrin’s lust bloom. Sliding his hands under the man’s shirt, he explored Darrin’s hard frame.
Darrin groaned and started running his hands all over Zotikos’s back. With each caress they stroked the ember that was quickly becoming a full-fledged fire. Darrin pulled himself away and ripped his shirt off and tossed it across the room.
Oh yeah, now we are getting somewhere. Soon Darrin would be so hot the mating heat would force him to bite. Zotikos was ready for the bonding serum to tie them together forever.
* * * *
Darrin felt another electric charge sprint through him when his bare chest touched Zotikos’s. His fangs itched like crazy and his groin was burning up with need. The beast in him was trying to take over. He couldn’t let that wild thing free in a room with people, could he? His fangs and groin screamed yes.
Zotikos slid his hands slowly down his naked back and then one slipped around front and started rubbing his jean-covered erection. He groaned and nuzzled the man’s neck. Thu-thump. The rhythmic beat of Zotikos’s blood started calling him.
“Yes, Darrin, let my blood lead you. You can feel the call. Don’t be afraid,” the vamp-mix whispered as he continued to stroke the achy flesh between Darrin’s legs.
Letting the sensation carry him away, he spread his legs wider. Pierce moaned and squirmed on the bed. Through a red haze he stared at his sleeping lover. The need to take him at the same time Zotikos did started pounding through his body and mind. He could picture them all writhing in ecstasy.
A low growl came from his throat. He turned his gaze back to the man stroking his dick with skill, not too much pressure, but not too lightly either. A ferocious desire to sink his fangs into flesh made him snarl like a feral animal.
Zotikos kissed his neck and whispered, “It’s time. We can’t take Pierce until you’ve fed from me.”
Knowing the truth behind the words, he didn’t hesitate this time when the man offered his wrist. The beast in him went straight for a vessel. He felt like he was going to explode from bliss the second he felt Zotikos’s blood running across his fangs. He drew in a mouthful of warm, spicy liquid and immediately came in his pants.
“That’s it. Drink and feel. You’re doing extremely well.” Zotikos crooned the encourage
ment as he slowed his stroking of Darrin’s erection.
He took another draw on his mate’s vessel and something snapped inside him. He felt a tingling in his gums and then liquid shot from his fangs and into Zotikos’s vessel. Then the starving beast in him took over. Darrin fought for control. The animal in him fought harder. Growling, he started wildly drinking. This was the best food he’d ever tasted. His senses heightened and he felt more alive than he’d ever felt. When the flow wasn’t enough anymore, he pulled out and immediately struck in another spot. An animalistic snarl rumbled across his chest as he savagely drank from Zotikos.
“That’s enough,” the older vamp ordered.
The animal in him didn’t listen. He pulled out and roughly sank into another vessel. His hands gripped tightly to Zotikos’s arm. A human’s bones would have snapped under the pressure. The soft-hearted human in him desperately wanted to stop. He looked into Zotikos’s eyes and pleaded for help.
One moment he was viciously feeding and the next he was laid out on his back next to Pierce and unable to move.
Zotikos raised his bleeding arm and licked the wounds until they were sealed. “You didn’t do bad. We have to work on you before you can touch Pierce, but overall you did fine. Now I want you to show me some of your superior control. We have to take Pierce. Do you trust yourself?”
He looked over at Pierce and felt his dick become harder than steel. When he tried to calm down and retract his fangs they wouldn’t go back in his gums. The need to attack both men was raging through him. If he’d been more powerful, he would have already been fucking them. Being young in vamp years was tearing him up. Right now he couldn’t take what he wanted. He’d have to wait until the more powerful man in the room said he could take one of them. His animal clawed at his insides and howled mournfully in Darrin’s mind.
Zotikos chuckled. “I’ll take your wild, hungry, lusty, angry emotions as a no.”
Pierce groaned and twitched. Fire shot through his groin. He looked at the front of Zotikos’s pants and smiled when he saw the huge tent.