A Lesson in Trust [A Dragon's Growl 8] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove)

by Marcy Jacks

  “You’re not moving fast enough,” the beta seethed.

  “So let us go peacefully now,” Stefan said. “We’ll take as many omegas as we can carry out of here. If you betas want to run after us down below, you’re more than welcome to join us and be free now.”

  The beta blinked at the offer. Behind him, Seth could see the omegas looking amongst each other, shock on their faces that such an offer could be on the table for them.

  “Stefan is my second-in-command,” Seth said. “If he offers it, then it’s a good deal. If any of you want out now, I’d accept it.”

  There was always the chance that people would turn away. The devil one knew was always better than the devil they didn’t. This was a universal law and applied even to those who wanted to escape imprisonment from the vampire elites.

  Two omegas stepped forward. Seth was glad to see one of them was the young man with the fox ears.

  Maybe it was because Miles was an omega fox shifter, but Seth’s heart ached to think that this little shifter could have had his tail cut off at any point.

  With this omega coming to the house with him, he could keep the man safe.

  And ask what he’d meant when he claimed Sorin had threatened him. There had to be more to it than that.

  Three others joined him. One didn’t have their animal ears on top of his head, which made Seth think those had been cut off, as well.

  Two of the omegas looked to be still intact. Seth could still see their tails and ears. That was good.

  “We’re taking you four home with us?” Stefan asked.

  The omegas looked amongst each other and then glanced back at their betas, as though searching for permission.

  No one said anything to them one way or another. The first step to being a free man was being able to make one’s own decisions. This was their first lesson in that, it seemed.

  “We’ll take them,” Seth said. “And they’ll be well cared for. Any betas going to follow?”

  “I will.” One man stepped forward with bright orange hair and a scar down his lips.

  “I’ll go with you.” A smaller man, not quite as broad in the shoulders, or as tall, stood next to the red-haired beta. He looked up at the other man and nodded. “I won’t let you go alone.”

  Three more betas stepped forward. No one else did.

  “Is this it?” Seth asked.

  “The rest of us need to stay behind and protect the omegas,” said the beta Seth had made bleed, his words laced with all kinds of heat.

  As if he wondered how Seth could dare to ask such a stupid question.

  “All right. Well, run quickly. We’ve stood in one place too long. Do you know where to run to?”

  “We know the way,” said the red-haired beta. “Some of us have worked in both houses.”

  Seth looked down at the timid omegas. He didn’t want to think about how closely any of them had worked in either of these houses.

  “All right, I’m getting out of here,” Stefan said, spreading his wings and getting down to one knee. “Someone climb on. This is the best way for you to fly.”

  The omegas suddenly looked a little less terrified and much more interested. The concept of flying usually did bring out the curiosity of people.

  The omega with the missing tail climbed onto Stefan’s back. Dimitri and Andrei took one each, which left Seth to carry the last on his back.

  They were lucky to be getting out of here. He nodded to the betas. “Follow fast. The rest of you, good luck.”

  “Don’t come back unless you can help the other omegas,” seethed the beta who had fought Seth. “And no more of this vampire-loving bullshit.”

  “Not your call,” Seth said, and then he launched himself into the air before the beta could get another word in.

  Chapter Ten

  Sorin hurt. All over his body. It hurt. Was he still burning? Maybe he was in hell.

  But Lucian had come to see him before he died. That was a good thing, wasn’t it? That was something he could take with him.

  Except he wasn’t that willing to have nothing else. Sorin was greedy. He’d been given everything he could have ever wanted throughout his entire life, and one sight of Lucian in front of him wasn’t enough. Sorin wanted to see the man again.

  He wanted to know Lucian was safe, wanted to see with his own eyes that everything was going to be all right.

  But he couldn’t seem to get his eyes open. He was stuck. He wanted to open his eyes, but he couldn’t. He moved and struggled, but he felt as if his hands were still tied behind his back.

  “Don’t move, sweetie. Don’t move.”

  That was Lucian’s voice. Lucian’s voice was there, and it was close. It melted away the anxiety building in Sorin’s body like a hot knife through butter.

  He could relax. He could sink back into sleep. His mate was here. He wasn’t alone.

  “That’s it, baby, go back to sleep. I’ve got you. You’re all right.”

  Sorin wanted to tell Lucian how sorry he was. How much he loved him, how he didn’t mean any of it, but then he was sinking deeper and deeper into the darkness.

  He stayed there for a long time. He didn’t know how long. It seemed like almost an instant but, at the same time, way too damned long.

  Sorin wanted to hear Lucian’s voice again. He was lonely without it.

  And he was scared that if he didn’t hear it, it might never come to him ever again.

  Sorin pushed himself back up, up toward the light. The light was bad, for the most part, but today, it felt kind of right. Today was the day when going to the light seemed like the best option.

  He had to get up. He had to wake up.

  “Lucian?”

  He called for his mate, his heart aching when he heard no reply.

  Don’t leave me alone. Please be real. He couldn’t handle it if this wasn’t real and his mate wasn’t here.

  Sorin managed to open his eyes. It was so bright that he had to shut them again, and he hissed, worried he was in direct sunlight.

  Sorin brought his hand up, struggling to get his eyes back open, but it took some doing.

  When he finally opened them, he was sure he was dreaming.

  He was in his room. The room he shared with Lucian. That was impossible. He was supposed to be back at his father’s house. How did he get here?

  The curtains were closed, but it must have been the middle of the day because some sunlight did manage to seep through. Nothing direct. He could handle it.

  But where was Lucian?

  God, his mouth was so dry. His lips were cracked and felt terrible. Sorin looked around himself, glad to see a pitcher of water and a glass. He reached out for it. Tried to. God, his body felt as weak as a newborn’s. It took him so much effort to push himself over to the glass.

  His burned hands trembled from holding the glass and pitcher. His arm shook from pouring. He somehow managed to keep from dropping and breaking the pitcher.

  Though the amount of water he spilled down the side of the nightstand and onto the carpet was something he didn’t want to think about.

  He drank. God that felt good on his mouth. Almost as good as blood. Lucian’s blood.

  Sorin sighed when he was out of water, but he was too tired to reach out and grab more. He put the glass down before he dropped it, falling back into the sheets and pillows. He closed his eyes just as he thought he heard the groan of his door opening.

  Someone stepped inside and paused.

  “Sorin? Are you awake?”

  “Yes,” he said, and then he wasn’t.

  The next couple of times Sorin came close to the surface, he felt his body being moved. Cool water and something hard scraping mercilessly over his skin. He cried out, opening his eyes, not knowing where he was and not liking it at all when he didn’t recognize the people around him.

  He was in water. A tub. They were going to drown him!

  “It’s okay. It’s okay. Just relax and we’ll be done very soon.”

>   Sorin didn’t care when they were going to be done. He wanted them to stop. He looked down at the thing they were scrubbing against his tender flesh. It looked like a sponge, but it couldn’t be. The pain was too great, and he cried out whenever the soap made it into the cracks of his skin.

  Everything spun. Nothing stayed still.

  “Shh, baby, you’re all right.” Lucian’s voice again. Sorin calmed down. “Look at me. Do you know where you are? This is Miles and Micah. They’re helping me give you a bath.”

  A what? No, this could not be a proper bath. They were torturing him!

  “Hurts,” he slurred, his eyes stinging from the pain.

  “I know, sweetheart. You’ve got a lot of…dead skin. We’re being as gentle as possible.”

  Another voice. Sorin supposed it sounded like Miles, but his brain was so frazzled it could have been Santa Claus and he wouldn’t have known the difference. “You’ve got a lot of nice and new skin beneath the old burned stuff. It’s coming right off with the sponges. They’re soft, right?”

  Miles stroked the sponge over Sorin’s arm, and he shivered and moaned from the pain.

  Not soft. Definitely not soft. It was like sandpaper, only with pieces of glass instead of sand.

  “Maybe we should let him soak a little while longer,” Micah said. “I think this is still hurting him.”

  “I agree,” Lucian said quickly. “Or we could put this off until another couple of days go by.”

  “We can’t,” Miles said, and Sorin decided the man wasn’t his best friend anymore. “He needs to get the old, burned skin off him. It’s going to get infected.”

  Lucian grumbled something about that. Sorin couldn’t make it out, but then it didn’t matter because he was sinking back into oblivion again. Considering the pain, and the embarrassment of knowing his mate was actually sponge bathing him, it was a welcome oblivion to slip into.

  Sorin felt as if he was in that darkness for a long time. It was easier to stay in now that he knew his mate was nearby. Lucian hadn’t abandoned him. He was still here. Sorin wasn’t alone, and now he could focus on healing. He had so many questions, but in the haze, he was content to let them wait until he was well enough to keep his eyes open for longer than a minute at a time.

  He dreamed of Lucian. Of the last time they’d been together before being captured. It was a good time to think of. Sorin didn’t like that the time they’d had sex after had been because Van had a sick notion of how to break both of their hearts.

  No, this time was better. It was a good dream.

  They’d been in bed. Twilight had come as the sun had started to set, so the windows had been opened. Sorin and Lucian both liked the twilight of dawn and sunset. Making love, kissing in the dim light had a romantic feel to it, and it made Sorin feel as if he could really give his mate something of a normal relationship.

  Regular couples who weren’t vampires didn’t always fuck in the dead of night with all the curtains shut tight to keep out any hints of daylight. If they kept the curtains closed at all, it was to stop their neighbors from spying on them.

  Sorin smiled, feeling as if he were actually there, on his knees and straddling his mate, Lucian’s mouth sucking on his neck, his hands reaching around and gripping his ass. Kneading his cheeks and making him shiver and groan.

  Their cocks rubbed together as Sorin thrust forward. He moaned. The friction was excellent, and the touch of Lucian’s hands was everything Sorin wanted, especially as Lucian gently thrust a finger to his hole.

  Sorin shivered, moaning, clutching tightly to Lucian’s shoulders in a desperate attempt to hang on.

  He could barely do that.

  So real. This felt so real. Maybe this wasn’t a memory. Maybe this was actually happening and he was really here.

  “God, I love you,” Lucian sighed, pushing his finger deeper, making Sorin go wild as he was teased, their cocks rubbing together while Lucian kissed and sucked on his throat. The alpha turned Sorin’s head, and then he pressed their mouths together.

  Sorin shivered, wanting more, even when Lucian began to nibble at his lower lip. Sorin didn’t know what to do. He wanted to thrust forward, closer to the other man, pressing their bodies together, but he also wanted to push his ass back into those wicked fingers.

  “That’s it, you like that, don’t you?”

  “Yes,” Sorin moaned, curling one of his arms around Lucian’s shoulders, needing to hang onto something. Otherwise, he was going to fall apart.

  “Give it to me. Fuck that feels so good.” Sorin released another sigh when he felt those fingers hooking, stroking sweetly against his prostate. He shivered.

  God, that was really nice.

  “On your back, sweetheart.”

  Sorin eagerly did as he was told. Looking up at his mate and positively glowing under the affection he saw in those chocolate eyes.

  Sorin spread his legs so his mate could settle between them, and he couldn’t wait to feel Lucian inside him.

  “That’s it,” Lucian groaned, but then he said nothing. He only needed to smile at Sorin and look at him with all that love in his eyes for Sorin to know how the man felt about him.

  Lucian pushed inside him, slow and sweet. Sorin clenched his eyes shut at first. He gripped tightly to Lucian’s shoulders, pushing his ass up against the man’s cock, welcoming him inside.

  Inch, by glorious, burning inch.

  Sorin sighed, the pressure and the burn making him grit his teeth, making beads of sweat form across his brow since his mate seemed determined to take his good, sweet time.

  “Hurry,” Sorin begged.

  “No.” Lucian smiled.

  Sorin growled at the man, but Lucian chuckled at him. “I like it when you pretend to be all tough.”

  Sorin opened his mouth to yell at the man, but his lips were caught up in another heated, brain-melting kiss before he could get any of the words out that he wanted.

  Then Lucian was moving, pumping his hips, still keeping with the teasing pace that was driving Sorin absolutely insane, but as much as he wanted it hard and fast, the steady rhythm Lucian seemed intent to build with him was good, too.

  Not just good. Good was too soft a word. It was great. It was amazing.

  It was heaven. He was the happiest he could possibly be, right here, this moment, having Lucian look at him with all the love he had in his eyes while he leisurely fucked into Sorin’s body.

  Sorin wanted it to be romantic, but his mind went to all kinds of lewd places. And he couldn’t stop himself from cursing as he wanted more and more.

  “Fuck me, harder,” he moaned. “God, I like that.”

  “What? You like this?” Lucian thrust his cock purposely forward, his hips slapping against Sorin’s pelvis, the head of his prick pushing in deeper than it had ever been before. “You like my cock inside you?”

  Sorin nodded helplessly. “I do.”

  “Good.”

  The slow build of pleasure allowed him to hang onto it longer. He could let that pleasure build until there was nothing he could do anymore but let it go with a shout of Lucian’s name.

  When Sorin opened his eyes the next time, he felt a little more awake, more aware. He was still groggy, his head pounded badly, but…he didn’t think he was in danger of passing out again.

  Sorin brought his hand up, touching his aching head with a groan. He pulled back when he realized there was no strange sensation of lumps of scarring on his face. He looked at his fingers, shocked to see they were smooth, healed, and there was no burned flesh or lumps clinging to them.

  He lifted his other hand. It looked normal, too. No signs of scarring, burning. Nothing. His skin didn’t feel thin or shallow either. As if he’d had blood, recently.

  Sorin looked around. He was alone in the room. He’d hoped Lucian would be here when he woke up for real, but he supposed the other man had work to do still.

  That, and Sorin didn’t know what the man thought of him. Not really. Lucian obviously came to
him and rescued him. That hallucination he’d had when he’d been burning in the sun hadn’t been a hallucination at all. It was real. This was real.

  God, how long had he been out for? That dream had seemed real enough, but he clearly didn’t have a wet dream. He wasn’t hard.

  Strange. A dream like that should have made his body respond. Anything with Lucian seemed to do it. Maybe he’d had the dream longer ago than he’d thought. Maybe it was a sign of something. Something not too great.

  He should probably stop thinking about it. The dream had been real enough that he could almost still feel his mate inside him. Considering that event actually happened, it wouldn’t take much for his dick to react if he didn’t get himself under control.

  He also had to use the bathroom.

  Badly.

  Sorin gingerly pushed his legs out from beneath the bed covers. He pressed them down onto the carpeted floor and felt a tingling at the bottom of his feet that wasn’t all that pleasant, but when he pushed himself to his feet, he was better able to control himself. His knees wobbled, but he could stay upright.

  This was good. He duck-walked to the bathroom and took care of the essentials.

  He even brushed his teeth and gurgled as much mouthwash when he finished because his mouth tasted like absolute garbage.

  The look of himself in the mirror…he didn’t look as bad as he thought he would, but it was still bad. The heavy bags under his eyes was something he could do without. He basically aged fifteen years in human time.

  He definitely looked as if he’d been sleeping a lot.

  Sorin splashed cold water over his face. The water didn’t sting the way his bath had. He wondered how long ago that had been.

  Then his face warmed enough to heat the cold water he’d splashed onto his face. Oh God, Lucian had to bathe him with a sponge. That was so embarrassing. Sorin didn’t want his mate to see him in that condition, let alone be bathing him.

  Did it matter, however? He should be grateful that Lucian had come and rescued him at all, and here he was thinking about how humiliating it was for that to be happening in the first place.