by Dakota Dawn
“I don’t like their ghost buddy,” Tristan stated with a growl.
Ghost snorted, catching his attention. “Fine. If you get eaten I’ll be waiting to tell you I told you so,” Ghost quipped.
“I can see why you don’t like the spirit, Tristan.” Drake nodded his head.
Tristan watched as Conlin stiffened his spine. “Let’s get this done.” With determination stamped on his face, Conlin turned and headed toward the Wyckoff brothers.
As soon as Conlin, Darrin, and Ghost got close to them, Drake motioned to a brown leather couch. “Sit.”
“We’ll stand,” Ghost responded.
“Sit down.” This time the command was given with more than a hint of a threat.
Darrin immediately dropped onto the couch and reached out to drag Conlin down as well. Ghost frowned down at them and then sat down as well. His ghostly form didn’t leave a dent or wrinkle in the couch.
Drake leaned in to Tristan and touched his shoulder, opening Tristan’s mind. “Control yourself. I’m not going to hurt Conlin, but I need to know what’s happened to them. I think they’ll tell the same story, but I have to make sure, plus I need to ask them some questions that haven’t been answered. Can you handle that?” Drake’s voice whispered through Tristan’s mind.
“Yes,” he responded in his mind. He hoped he could.
“Good.” Drake removed his hand from his brother and turned his attention to their captives. “You boys are in a lot of trouble. We don’t take kindly to burglars.” Drake stood directly in front of them and eyed all three men. “Who hired you to break into our blood bank?”
“No one,” Conlin answered quickly.
Drake swung his gaze to Conlin. “Why did you do it?”
Conlin’s gaze darted to Tristan and then back to Drake who was staring menacingly at his mate. “He told you earlier. I needed the blood,” Darrin answered and flinched when Drake suddenly moved in front of him.
“You needed it. Booth wouldn’t think your answer was good enough. He manages the blood banks and is not happy about your method of getting what you need.”
“He didn’t take the blood. I did,” Conlin confessed.
Drake grunted. “Why didn’t you get your own dinner?” His eyes pinned Darrin to the couch.
When Darrin squirmed and looked pained, Conlin tried to jump to his feet, but Drake put out his hand and held Conlin in place with his powers.
Tristan hissed a warning to Drake, and his brother removed the force.
“I already told you. He’s sensitive. The thought of hurting humans makes him sick, and the thought of him dying makes me sick,” Conlin spat at Drake.
“Why didn’t you just buy some blood wine from us? That’s what a lot of vampires do.” Drake continued staring at the three.
Darrin perked up. “What’s blood wine?”
“We make wine that’s a mixture of blood, wine, and spices. Vampires around the world buy it so that they rarely have to feed from humans. Caleb, get Darrin a glass. He looks like he could use it,” Tristan said, never letting his emotions show. They were proving to be as innocent as he believed.
Caleb went to the bar and pulled a bottle out and poured the dark-red liquid into a glass. He brought it to Darrin.
Tristan watched closely as Darrin took a sip and then gulped the wine down. The man licked his lips and smiled.
“You added cloves and cinnamon to your wine. That’s brilliant. With winter coming up it will be perfect for the holiday season,” Darrin stated excitedly.
“We think so. That’s only one flavor. We have many and are always working on new ones,” Tristan said.
“Really?” Darrin questioned with excitement shining in his eyes.
The feelings pouring off the young vamp and his brother made Tristan positive that they were good people. If he was right, they were just confused. Drake’s next words proved he felt the same way.
“For a vampire, you don’t seem to know much about your own kind. How long have you been one?”
“A year,” Darrin replied.
“A baby,” Caleb said understandingly.
“What happened?” Drake asked.
Tristan could feel sadness roll off both brothers. He wanted to comfort Conlin, but controlled the impulse.
“I was fishing late at night. A stick snapped, and before I could fully turn around two men pinned me to the ground. They both bit me at the same time, one in the neck and one in the chest. It burned.” Darrin’s hands gripped his thighs tightly. His fingernails turned white. Darrin rocked slightly as he started mumbling.
A stab of pity for his mate’s brother pierced Tristan’s heart. He hated rogue vampires. The shock coming off Conlin told him that his mate understood a lot of Darrin’s mumbled words. His heart ached for both men.
After several minutes, Darrin’s eyes remained glazed but his body stopped rocking. “I must have passed out. When I woke up the men were gone and Conlin was putting his coat on me. The taste of blood was strong in my mouth. I think Conlin was crying, but that can’t be right because Conlin doesn’t cry.”
Conlin dropped to the floor in front of Darrin and squeezed his brother’s hands. “Stop, Darrin. Snap out of it. Please, Darrin.”
Darrin mumbled something unintelligible. His eyes revealed that he was still far away wrapped up in his hellish memory. “Why did they do that? Did I do something to draw them?”
“Are you tired? I think we should leave,” Conlin said to this brother in desperation.
Tristan could tell his mate was trying to change the subject. Trying to get his brother to come back to the present.
Darrin was stuck in the past. “Why did they do it? Was it me?”
“It wasn’t you. You didn’t do anything wrong,” Tristan answered the tortured man.
Conlin whipped his head around and glared at Drake. “Did you do this to him? Did you somehow make him relive the past?”
“No, but I’ve seen it happen to others before. When the circumstance is right, the mind of a victim sometimes snaps and they relive the scene. It’s impossible to make them stop once they get started. I believe that’s what happened to your brother. Has he told you all of what happened to him before tonight?” Drake asked.
“No. He just told me he was attacked by vampires. I didn’t believe in vampires until I saw fangs burst through his gums.” Conlin looked back at his brother.
The young vamp still looked like he was miles away. Conlin’s stress rose by the second.
He couldn’t take anymore. “Now that he’s gone through the memory, he can safely be helped. Caleb, Darrin needs your special assistance.”
With a nod, Caleb said, “I can fix this.” He stepped up to Darrin and turned the man’s face toward his. The blue threads in Caleb’s golden eyes glowed when their gazes locked. A couple of minutes later, Darrin’s eyelids blinked lazily a few times, and then he slumped back into the couch.
Ghost and Conlin asked in sync, “What did you do to him?”
“Down, boys. I just helped him go to sleep. He’ll wake up tomorrow night refreshed and back to normal,” Caleb answered.
Drake stepped in front of Tristan, blocking Conlin’s view. Tristan touched Drake’s shoulder, mentally listening.
“Do you want me to seek and kill Darrin’s attackers?” Drake asked mentally.
“No. His mate will want revenge,” he answered through their connection. If that had happened to his mate he wouldn’t be able to rest until the vicious vampires were killed, preferably by his own hands.
With a nod of agreement, Drake stepped back and watched Caleb mist from the room with Darrin. A second later Drake misted out of the room himself.
“Where did Caleb take Darrin?” his mate asked.
“To a guest room.”
“Take me there,” Conlin ordered.
He liked his mate’s feisty side even if he couldn’t indulge the man. “No. You belong here.” Tristan spread his hands and looked around the room. “This section of
the estate is mine and now yours as well. I can promise you that you’ll see your brother tomorrow night. Right now Darrin needs rest.”
“You’re not planning on staying here with him, are you? We don’t know anything about him,” Ghost sputtered angrily.
Blood starting to boil, Tristan hissed and bared his fangs at Ghost. To his satisfaction the spirit squeaked and disappeared from the room. His content grin fell from his face when he looked at Conlin and saw the man glowering at him. “What?”
“Why did you do that? Ghost is my friend.”
“Well, he’s not one of mine. He’s trying to come between us, and I won’t have that. If he can’t accept that you belong to me, then he’ll have to leave.” He didn’t like putting his foot down, but he didn’t have a choice. Conlin is mine.
“What do you mean I belong to you? We’re not even dating.”
“Oh, we are more than dating. We’re bonded mates. The need to be near me and the lust you feel pounding through your veins is proof of that. If we’re lucky, we’ll come to love each other with time.” Tristan leaned in close to Conlin’s face. “Make no mistake, you belong to me.”
An assortment of emotions seeped from his mate and clouded the air around them. Lust and anger were the strongest. He was happy to feel acknowledgment of the truth as well. His mate was frustrated, too. That was to be expected. Deep down Conlin knew there was something special building between them. Remembering all the stuff his mate had been through in the last few hours, hell, the last year, Tristan knew he needed to soothe his mate.
“Look, this isn’t a one-way deal. You do belong to me, but I belong to you as well. There is no undoing it. Our destinies are now intertwined forever.” Tristan was relieved when Conlin started to calm. He took his man’s face in his hands and looked into the most expressive brown eyes he’d ever seen. Lust bloomed in his pelvis, but he pushed the feeling aside. “It will most likely be a bumpy road at first, but I know we’ll make it. You are my top priority. I’ve waited a long time to meet you.”
Unable to stop himself, Tristan leaned down and pressed his lips to Conlin’s. Hot desire stabbed his groin. As he deepened the kiss, Tristan knew the mating heat was about to consume them again, and he looked forward to every moment of it.
Chapter Four
Conlin knew he shouldn’t submit so easily to Tristan and the raging desire scorching his body, but fuck, the vamp had a way with words and the need to be with Tristan was almost tangible.
Tristan’s tongue delved deeply into his mouth. A mental picture of the vamp’s big cock ramming into his ass flooded Conlin’s mind. God, I love having sex with this man.
Even through the man’s clothes, he could feel the hard muscles flexing and rippling. He slid his hands up under Tristan’s shirt and gloried in the feel of the vamp’s cool skin. It wasn’t icy like he’d seen on TV and read about. Tristan’s skin was probably in the upper seventies. He loved the contrast between his hot flesh and Tristan’s cool skin.
Their tongues tangled for a few more seconds before he was forced to pull back so he could breathe. At this moment, Conlin wished he didn’t need air. He’d love to be able to let Tristan explore his mouth for hours at a time. The man could kiss like no other. If the mate business was true, Conlin knew he was lucky to be paired with Tristan…at least sexually.
Moving his hand from the vamp’s back to his stomach, he was excited to explore the man’s six-pack. Each small groove led to a firm rectangular patch of muscle. His cock hardened further when he recalled the feel of Tristan’s powerful muscles raking across his swollen shaft.
The way the vamp used his whole body when having sex was mind blowing. Even now Tristan was nibbling at his ear and moaning softly as the man’s hands roamed his back, caressing the muscles. The man’s thighs were rubbing against Conlin’s. The best part was the rigid flesh the vamp was grinding into his stomach. He hoped Tristan was planning on bending him over the couch and fucking him real soon.
Groaning, he moved his head to the side, giving the vamp more area to kiss and nibble. Nibble. The thought of tasting the man was too tempting. He started pushing Tristan’s shirt up and was glad the giant man took the hint and pulled his own shirt off. Being almost a foot shorter made tasks like that almost impossible.
Tristan grinned at Conlin’s belly. He looked down and saw that some of their semen from earlier was still on him. Raking his hands over his stomach, he tried to brush the dried seed off. The man grabbed his hand and stopped him.
“Stop. I like seeing my mark on you.” Leaning down, the gorgeous male licked their essence off Conlin’s nipple.
Heat sped from his nipple to his cock. He jerked and rubbed his jean-covered groin into Tristan’s hard hip. His cock desperately wanted to spring free of its prison. His lover must have read his mind.
“Too many clothes,” Tristan stated. Air swirled wildly around Conlin.
He felt a quick jerk of material and snapped his eyes closed. Cool air touching his skin made him open his eyes. A stunned noise cleared his throat when he looked down and saw that his pants, socks, and shoes were gone. Only a few seconds could have passed since he felt the minitornado.
Chuckling drew his attention to Tristan. His eyes bugged when he saw that the vamp was gloriously naked.
“How’d you do that?” he asked.
“It’s just a part of being a vampire. I can move faster than the human eye can follow. There are lots of things I can do,” Tristan said with a sexy grin.
“Like what?” he asked. Conlin couldn’t stop his eyes from sliding away from Tristan’s and down to the vamp’s beautiful cock. God, it was standing straight up and proud as could be. The tip was plum shaped. He loved plum-shaped crowns. So pretty.
“Mmm. I see you get distracted easily. In this case that’s a good thing. I’ll show you everything I can do in time. Right now it’s time I showed you to the couch.” Tristan meshed their bodies together and turned them so his own back was to the couch that was several feet behind him. As their mouths touched and the man deepened the kiss, he walked them to the couch.
Once at the large, soft piece of furniture, Tristan fell back and brought Conlin down with him. His large hands guided Conlin’s legs to straddle his hips.
Their dicks pressed together when Conlin settled himself on the vamp’s lap. They both groaned in pleasure. The tingly feeling flared to life in his groin again. Conlin briefly wondered if they would always be this wild for each other. I sure as hell hope so.
His questing fingers found the vamp’s nipple, and he rolled it between his thumb and index finger. He was rewarded with a jerk and moan from Tristan. Conlin licked his way down to the dark-brown disk and sucked it into his mouth. Tristan’s hips rose when he flicked his tongue over the sensitive nub. He rocked his hips and moaned around the pebbled flesh in his mouth.
Tristan started panting hard when Conlin grabbed their cocks and squeezed them together as he rocked his hips again.
He looked up into the man’s face and was surprised when Tristan looked down at him. The threads of green in the man’s eyes were glowing. The mesmerizing sight made him release the nipple he’d been sucking. The tingling in his groin intensified.
“Stand up and place your hands on the couch on either side of my head,” Tristan commanded.
On trembling legs, he did as he was told. The second his hands touched the couch, they felt weighted. He tried to move them, but they wouldn’t lift off the leather.
“What’s wrong with my hands?”
“Nothing. I’m keeping them where they won’t tempt me to hurry our lovemaking along.” Tristan licked the cock jutting in his face and chuckled when Conlin tried to remove his hands from the couch.
Sliding down, the vamp nudged Conlin’s legs further apart with his shoulders as he went for Conlin’s treasure sac.
He groaned when a cool tongue swiped across his balls. After several long, sweeping licks, Tristan sucked one of Conlin’s orbs into his mouth and rolled it arou
nd and around.
“Fuck. That feels good.” Conlin fought the need to come. Several deep breaths later, he felt more in control. His heartbeat had slowed and the tingling in his groin was just a mild distraction.
He refused to come at the speed of a hormonal teen. Tristan moved to his other ball, and sparks shot through his pelvis. Looking at the ceiling, he started counting backwards from one hundred. The sound of lube opening had his gaze darting down. A smile curved the corner of the vamp’s lush lips.
Tristan released the ball he’d been rolling and stared into Conlin’s eyes. “You might as well stop trying to hold off your orgasm. I can guarantee you’re going to come within the next few minutes and then again shortly after that. Get used to shooting your load several times a day.”
Doubt clouded Conlin’s brain. He didn’t think he could physically do what Tristan wanted him to do. His sex drive was just average.
A chuckle from his lover brought him back to the moment. After spreading lube on his fingers, Tristan ran a slick digit over Conlin’s eager hole. The tingling sparks were back. His dick started to throb.
“See. You have nothing to fear. Your body will always respond to mine,” Tristan said right before he pushed a thick finger in Conlin’s puckered entrance.
His legs trembled so he locked them. “How did you know I feared not being able to come as much as you’d like?”
“I’m an empath. I can feel all of your emotions. Your lust is a heady thing.” Right after the words were spoken the man sucked Conlin’s cockhead into his cool mouth and added a second finger to his slick hole at the same time.
Conlin cried out and came up on his toes. “Oh, fuck.” The feel of his lover’s fingers plunging in and retreating from his heated ass repeatedly was making him pant. He tried to enjoy it for a bit longer, but when Tristan’s tongue stabbed into the slit on the crown of his throbbing cock, he felt his balls tighten. He cried out as his semen rushed down the length of his pulsing shaft and burst into Tristan’s mouth.
Sweat broke out on his body as Tristan continued to suck on his softening cock. He felt like he was drifting away from his body. Nothing but pleasure surrounded him. As he continued to float in utopia, Conlin’s legs gave way.