“Are you with me, Eddie?” Sam asked, hastening his pace now. “Is it good for you?”
“Mrrrmm… yesss… but slower, Sam… slow…,” he murmured. “I like it when you fuck me slow.”
Sam laughed in delirious delight as he complied. He could make this last for as long as possible. He’d known it would only take practice and a few varied positions for Ed to hold the beast at bay. Even at his most terrifying, Ed was always worth trusting, because Sam knew from experience that nothing was as simple as it seemed.
NOTHING WAS as it seemed.
Not Ed.
Not Sam.
Not anything about the two of them together.
Except this. Except making love in Ed’s bed—that was as it should be, because Ed didn’t fear anymore that he’d lose himself.
It wasn’t the position—though that helped focus him on something other than the pulse of Sam’s blood and how delicious it would taste. Like this, he couldn’t bite Sam without dislodging him and flipping them, and it made Ed believe that maybe, the more they “practiced” in any position, the more he’d be able to give himself over to Sam fully without fearing he’d harm him.
The slow slide of Sam’s length inside him was so good. Maybe that was part of it too, letting Sam slow him down, when with other vampires, they’d often give in to their powers, their supernatural strength and speed, and break the bed. That wasn’t always better. With Sam, Ed could rediscover the sweet side to lovemaking and draw out every moment.
“Still want to go slow?” Sam whispered, pulling back at an agonizing pace.
“Y-yes, but… a little faster now… please…?”
“Maybe I should return the favor.”
“What—” Ed cut off with a gasp that dropped into a low moan as Sam bit him at the juncture of his neck and shoulder. Nothing fierce, not enough to break the skin, but that faint sharpness sent a shiver through Ed’s body that melted him into the mattress.
Each new thrust of Sam’s that pressed deeper and slid inside him that much faster, made a heat build within him that almost—almost—made him wish he had something to bite.
Ed shoved a fold of the sheet into his mouth and let himself tear into it.
“I’m there, Eddie… right there….”
Ed was too, and Sam knew it, reaching around to grasp him firm and stroke, stroke, stroke, faster and tighter, until—fuck—Ed was done, beating Sam by several seconds with an all-over quiver. After they were both panting and still, he spat the sheet from his mouth and could barely imagine moving.
It was Sam, slipping away smoothly and returning to clean Ed, who eventually rolled him over to lay out on the bed. Ed knew he still wore his vampire face, but Sam looked at him adoringly anyway.
“Hang on, my phone keeps buzzing.” Sam offered a short peck to Ed’s lips before disappearing off the side of the bed to dig through their clothes.
“Everything all right?” Ed asked, still breathless but able to banish his fangs.
“Mim and Gerry want to make sure you picked me up okay.”
“Please don’t tell them I failed.”
Sam sat, grinning at his screen. He was breathtaking to look at, not at all lessened by bandages or scars. “And risk Mim’s reaction? No worries there. I’ll tell them we’ll be out of bed in a week or so, and then they can come over.”
Ed snickered.
“Except I also have a note from the Neu-Ryans, wondering if we want to come over for dinner tonight to celebrate my return.”
“Urg…. You know the problem with having friends? I have to share you.”
Sam laughed.
“But the amazing thing is….” Ed reached out, and Sam tossed the phone aside to grasp his hand and climbed back onto the bed. “I like that too. Even though it worries me.”
“Worries you?”
Pausing to pull Sam close, Ed kissed the side of his head. In a thousand years, he’d never held something so precious to him. “If you want it, someday I’ll turn you. But we can’t turn everyone in our lives.”
“I know,” Sam said softly. “You’re worried about how hard it will be when we have to leave them, or when they leave us simply because we can’t stop time. Well, quit it. Quit focusing on the bad. Think about how wonderful it is to have them in our lives now. That’s the part you’ve forgotten over the years when you thought you had to keep people at a distance. ‘’Tis better to have loved and lost,’” he quoted with a smirk.
“As long as I never lose you,” Ed said, stroking Sam’s face and pulling him in for a harder, bruising kiss. “You are very wise for someone so young.”
“That’s why you hired me. Which we should talk about, because if I’m going to be moving in….” Sam raised his eyebrows but didn’t wait for Ed to counter him.
Ed wouldn’t have. He couldn’t imagine Sam living anywhere else.
“You cleaning is going to become a regular thing.”
Ed snorted. “May I make a request, then?”
“I suppose.”
“I’d like to replace the photograph over the safe.”
“With what?”
It was important to say this next part without a single stutter. “Something scandalous of you that can only ever be hung in the bedroom.”
Epilogue
BEING A couple with Ed was never a chore.
Not after Sam discovered Ed was a vampire.
Not after they had enemies in their midst.
Not after those enemies were defeated.
And not now, so many years later.
It was high time they moved to a new city. Sam had always thought it would be nice, a change of pace from Riverside, and he did like it, but he wasn’t as used to migration as Ed and needed time to adjust.
Walking hand in hand through the city streets beneath a bright full moon helped. So did having an entire evening to themselves.
Of course, Sam should have expected that they’d be interrupted. With the aid of modern technology, they often were, but when his phone buzzed, he still looked to see who it was, while keeping his other hand clasped with Ed’s.
“Marie and Daniel are wondering about next weekend. Can you believe the twins are graduating from college already?”
“Certainly not,” Ed said. “Contrary to what you might think, time passing quickly does still surprise me. So much can change in twenty years.”
“Even your fashion sense,” Sam ribbed him.
Ed bumped his shoulder in rebuttal, though he did still break out a bow tie on occasion. “Will Mim and Gerry be there?”
“That’s the plan. It’s been a while since we were all together.” Mim and Gerry had eventually gotten to know the Neu-Ryans too. It was inevitable after they all sat vigil at Sam’s bedside.
“You know,” Ed said, pulling Sam closer against him, “eventually they might start to notice—”
“You robbing the cradle there, pops?” a foreign voice said.
Sam froze and felt Ed tense beside him. It was still strange and a little funny that these days people were talking to Sam when they said that.
“Wallet and any other valuables, now,” their “attacker” demanded, faceless except for the sneer beneath his hood as he crept from the shadows, carrying no remorse in his voice or slack in the hold on his gun. “Better hurry. I’ve killed for less with fags like you.”
Sam smiled. He did so like when they made it easy.
Ed asked him sometimes if he wished he’d turned him while he was younger. But honestly, Sam liked the hint of silver in his hair, and he liked even more how much Ed liked it.
“I suppose I am robbing the cradle a little,” Ed said, making the mugger frown in confusion, “but age has never been an issue for us. Would you like this one?” He tilted his head at Sam.
“I can start, but you know I prefer it when we share.”
“Aren’t you afraid of my darkness, dear?” Ed said with a smile.
“No,” Sam answered in kind. “You haven’t seen mine yet.”
>
“Hey,” the mugger called, since they ignored him to share a kiss.
Sam let himself enjoy the press of Ed’s lips, and then he turned, freeing his eyes to glow and his fangs to extend, as he sprang—
“The fuck?”
—to sink his teeth into his prey’s neck and drink.
AMANDA MEUWISSEN is a bisexual author, with a primary focus on M/M romance, and works in marketing for the software company Outsell. She has a Bachelor of Arts in a personally designed Creative Writing major from St. Olaf College, and is an avid consumer of fiction through film, prose, and video games. As author of the paranormal romance trilogy The Incubus Saga and several other titles, including many with Dreamspinner Press, Amanda regularly attends local comic conventions for fun and to meet with fans, where she will often be seen in costume as one of her favorite fictional characters. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with her husband, John, and their cat, Helga, and can be found at www.amandameuwissen.com.
By Amanda Meuwissen
After Vertigo
Coming Up for Air
Interpretive Hearts
A Model Escort
Their Dark Reflections
Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS
www.dreampsinnerpress.com
Published by
DREAMSPINNER PRESS
5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Their Dark Reflections
© 2020 Amanda Meuwissen
Cover Art
© 2020 Tiferet Design
http://www.tiferetdesign.com/
Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.
All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dreamspinnerpress.com.
Trade Paperback ISBN: 978-1-64405-863-3
Digital ISBN: 978-1-64405-862-6
Library of Congress Control Number: 2020940964
Digital published November 2020
First Edition
v. 1.0
Printed in the United States of America
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