“I do love you, Lily. You’re my sister. Please, say something. I couldn’t let you die.”
Julian nudged my chin with his finger. “Come on, Lily. Don’t hate me. That would be as bad as you dying.”
“Yes. I suppose it would be,” I said softly, almost a whisper. I did know.
I turned to face Julian and wrapped my arms around his shoulders, tugging as our bodies fell together. “I love you, too. I could never hate you.”
“Even knowing what I did?”
“I would have done the same if the situation were reversed.”
He sighed. “I’m so relieved.” Then he laughed. “You sure it’s not the bond?”
“Yes. Well, maybe some of it, but I’ve always loved you. I believe I would have done the same.”
“What’s all this love stuff I’m hearing?”
We turned to see Preston standing at the door neither of us had heard open. I stepped back from our embrace and grinned as I returned my gaze to Julian.
“Nothing much. I just have the best little brother in the whole wide world.”
Chapter Thirty
Preston
“So, at least we know you don’t care much for oysters.”
Lily shook her head. “No. Those are nasty creatures. Like slugs of the water. Except I do like the little pearls they produce.”
“I’ll have to remember that.” I grinned.
“And besides, chocolate makes for such a better aphrodisiac, don’t you think?”
Lily’s warm, fudge-covered finger slid over my lips, and I opened my mouth to catch it between my teeth in a gentle bite before sucking on it. It was incredible that a woman—correction, vampire—such as Lily was here with me. Wanting me. I’d had my share of females, but none that I enjoyed as much as Lily. None of them had ever taken me to the levels of pure bliss that she did.
She’d given me more pleasure in the past hour than I’d ever had in my entire experience with any other woman. She was playful, and I loved how she shuddered when I placed little feather-light kisses over her breasts. And how she climaxed while I sucked and teased her nipples with my tongue. No woman had ever climaxed for me so easily before.
When I’d confessed to Lily that I’d found out that Julian was her maker and hadn’t told her, I didn’t think she would forgive me for keeping the truth about her and her brother from her, even for the short time I’d known. But she did. She’d forgiven me, saying that she understood. And she loved that I had the patience and courage to wait and let Julian tell her since I’d worried she would be upset about it.
I held my chocolate-laced finger up in front of her mouth, and she opened, taking it, sucking, returning the fun experience. I moaned at the sensation. I was already as hard as steel, but when she wrapped her hand around my hard-on and caressed me gently, teasing me as she rubbed her thumb over the tip where moisture had already accumulated as a testament to my excitement, it felt as if I grew another few inches.
We were both naked in the middle of my bed. I placed my finger under her chin as she stroked me and pulled her face up to mine as I gazed into her eyes. Yes, they were the same as mine, but not because of Dorian, and on a lot of levels, I liked that. I’d been okay with it when I thought that Dorian had sired her, but knowing he hadn’t was much better.
I needed her. Needed her from the moment she entered my life. I understood it. And no matter how long it seemed to take to finally come to this point in our lives, I knew there was nothing that would ever keep us apart.
I leaned in, seeking her lips, needing her mouth, her tongue to meld with mine, to let the sweet nectar of her taste take me away to somewhere peaceful yet exciting.
I gently pushed her backwards. The bowl of chocolate and raspberries fell to the floor with a crash, and she giggled as I spread her legs, my cock instantly missing the sweet stroking attention she’d been giving it. I positioning myself on my knees between her thighs and pulled her legs up, resting her ankles on my shoulders. She was beautiful. Her smile inviting. Her pussy glistened. I teased her entrance with the tip of my erection and inhaled her arousing scent. A few more circles over her clit, and then I plunged into her. She moaned with pleasure, and I groaned at the tightness of her walls surrounding me.
I pulled up, almost completely out so that only the tip of me was in her. I wanted to feel the pleasure of the descent back into her because it was always so amazing. But she became impatient and thrust up toward me.
“Preston,” she huffed out with little pants. “More, harder, I need more. I need you.”
I needed to please her.
I thrust back inside, taking pleasure in the way her tight walls caressed me again. Then I pulled out again before slamming hard against her. And again. I lost control and let my cock take over as if it had its own agenda.
Lily reached her arms up, latched on to her legs, and tugged herself into me, taking me as far as I could go until my balls pressed against her, the gentle nudging sensation on my testicles sending me into another realm of pleasure. I couldn’t hold on any longer, and I burst into her just as something made a loud cracking noise, and we fell a few feet, yet we were still on the bed.
“What the fuck?”
“Oh, no! What happened?” she asked.
“It appears, my sweetness,”—I kissed her nose—“that we broke the bed.”
I opened my eyes and smiled at the sight of Lily sound asleep beside me. My cock hardened just looking at her. I smiled as I remembered how the force of our lovemaking had broken the bed. The mattress was still half on the floor and half on the frame. Tonight, we’d have to purchase a new one. We’d pick it out together. I was looking forward to that.
But I had to piss. I stepped up from the mattress as my foot sank into something squishy, and glanced down to see my fudge-covered toes. “Yuck,” I whispered, not wanting to wake Lily. I hopped to the bathroom on one foot and washed off the chocolate then took the much-needed leak. I headed back to bed, but I didn’t want Lily to wake up and step in the sticky mess we’d had so much fun with earlier, so I yanked on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. Then I grabbed the bowl and headed downstairs to find something to clean up the rug.
As I entered the kitchen, I heard someone rummaging through the fridge. Yes, Ari was up, just the man I needed.
“Ari, what do we have that will take chocolate fudge out of carpet fiber?”
The head that popped up from the refrigerator grinned at me, but it wasn’t Ari’s.
“Dorian.”
If he thought I’d show fear or even shock that he was here, he was wrong.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I said, keeping my voice calm. How did he even get in? Then I remembered . . . The privileges of sires went beyond what was normal, and they apparently didn’t need an invitation to enter the homes of their offspring. And this mansion housed two of Dorian’s now, making the task even easier.
“Preston. Good. I’m glad it was you who found me. Anyone else would have had my ass thrown out of here faster than you could say, rumplestanskin.”
“Rumpelstiltskin,” I corrected.
“Right. I was never any good with those silly nursery rhythms. I suppose the world is better off that I wasn’t able to father any human children.”
“It’s a fairytale.”
He waved that away.
“What do you want?”
He took a deep breath before exhaling slowly. I didn’t find him as threatening as I thought I would. Something in my gut told me that he wasn’t there to hurt anyone. Or steal anybody away. So I let him speak.
“I just wanted to see you one more time. I can’t tell you how much gazing upon you soothes me. Gives me memories I’d forgotten all about. I wanted a chance to explain myself. Things were difficult for me when I left you. I knew I had to. I loved you enough to let you go.”
“You said that in your letter.”
“Yes, but I don’t think you really understood how painful it was to leave.”
“Why should I care, Dorian? You left. I haven’t seen you for over two hundred years until last week. Why should I care now about your feelings when you never considered mine?”
He closed his eyes and pressed his lips tightly together. When he opened them, he looked at me.
“I did consider yours.” His eyes glistened with wetness, and his voice cracked with a sob, but he took another deep breath and steadied himself. I placed the chocolatey bowl in the sink and grabbed a bag of blood from the fridge. I handed it to him and reached for another for myself. Blood and tears, I mused. The sweat would have to come later when I was with Lily. I pulled out a chair for Dorian and gestured for him to sit. When he did, I sat in another.
“That was why I left in the first place,” he continued. “As much as it pained me to admit it, I had to come to terms with the plain and simple fact that you were not a gay man, no matter how much I wanted you to be. I knew you needed something I could never give you. If I had stayed, I would have never been able to cope with your lust for females. I could never just sit back and watch that. I left for you. I gave you up because it was the best thing for you. It killed me, knowing that you weren’t as invested in us as I was and that your thoughts would always be on another.”
Now it was my turn to take a deep breath because I couldn’t become that same weak man I was back then and give in to his charms. The control he had over me was uncanny. I couldn’t allow myself to feel sorry for him, even though I did. The wall I’d built up was cracking, and I needed to find the courage deep within me to stand up to him. So I dug deep down to find the hardness I needed. For Lily’s sake. For Julian’s sake, too.
“That’s really touching, Dorian. Except why the fuck did you keep Julian and Lily against their will for so long?”
He smiled. “When I left you, I roamed around mindlessly for years. I’d go for weeks without ingesting any blood. I didn’t care what happened to me. I didn’t realize it would hurt so much. The loneliness.” The sorrow behind his eyes was killing me. “And I was in mourning, I guess. When I first set eyes on Julian, something ignited inside of me again. A desire that I hadn’t felt since I left you. He is so much like you, you know.” He smiled. “I was instantly captivated by his beautiful features. He was irresistibly gorgeous. But he . . . well, let’s just say I didn’t want to lose him. When he had that stupid affair, there was only one thing I could do. I couldn’t go through that pain again.”
He straightened in his seat and caught my eyes with his. “But I came here to tell you that I’ve come to terms with everything. If nothing else, I am a man of my word, and I gave Julian his freedom. His sister was never really mine so, of course, she is free, as well. I managed to find another after you. Perhaps, it will happen again someday.”
I drained the blood from the bag and threw it in the trash as the door to the kitchen opened. Dorian and I looked up to see Gage. His eyes went wide, and his body tensed, ready to pounce on Dorian. I held up my hand in a gesture to relax, and he stood still, but his eyes narrowed with concern.
“Everything okay in here?” he asked.
“Yeah. Dorian was just leaving,” I said and stood. When Dorian got up, he said, “One more thing before I leave.”
“What’s that?”
“I’ve sold the tower. They’ll start renovations on it within the week. All my belongings are gone from it. I’ve also resigned from all my positions with the city and ended all the drug and trafficking operations of Sweet’s Delicacies. I’m leaving San Francisco.”
“Where will you go?” I wasn’t sure I wanted to know, but for Lily’s sake, I thought I’d better ask.
He shrugged. “Europe, I think. I’ll disappear for a few decades or so, start a new life there. I’ve done it before. Before your time.” He chuckled. “Take care of yourself, Preston.”
“And you,” I said as he vanished from sight.
“Fuck, man. I thought we were going to have another go at him.”
I sucked in my lips. “I think we’ve seen the last of Dorian for a while.”
“You sure?”
“I’m sure.” I knew in my gut. For some reason, I trusted Dorian. “He’ll keep his word.” I was certain of it.
I ran into Julian in the hallway on my way back upstairs to Lily. Cian had offered him a permanent room in the mansion, and that was okay with me. It gave Lily an opportunity to stay close to her brother because I wasn’t letting her out of my sight, ever.
“Hey, I uh . . . Dorian was just here,” I said.
“I know. I saw him.”
“You did?”
“He came to say goodbye. I knew he would. I knew he’d never be able to just vanish. But . . . he won’t be back. He gave me his word.”
I nodded and patted Julian on the back as we walked back to our respective rooms. Julian and I were brothers of a sort. In more than one way, I mused.
Epilogue
Preston
I pulled down the comforter and quietly slipped in beside Lily. Propping up on my elbow, I rested my head on my hand and watched her sleep. How did I get so lucky? I’d come from nothing. Crippled and broke. And then a shitstorm had hit, taking me on a wild ride, and transforming me into something better. I never regretted my life as a vampire. I embraced it full force. Was thankful for it even. Every facet of it had been a miracle. Dorian had seen to that. He’d recognized something in me that I never saw as a human. He may have been a monster for a period, but he’d never been anything but my savior. There was good in him. I saw it. I knew Julian saw it. That’s why I couldn’t kill him.
“We’ll have a good life together, Lily. I promise. And I’ll always love you,” I whispered softly, and she stirred a little but didn’t wake. “I love you, Lily. I never told you. You knew weeks ago. I guess I knew it, too, but I never said it.” It was true, I loved her so fucking much it hurt to think about what might have happened to her. And it felt amazing to tell her how much I loved her. But since she was sound asleep, she couldn’t hear me.
I wanted her to wake up so I could tell her but I knew she needed her rest. I just couldn’t keep my hands off her. I traced my finger over her shoulder, down her arm, circled her elbow before moving down to her wrist, and to her delicate and dainty fingers. Before I knew it, I was skimming my hand over the soft flesh of her abdomen. Within a few minutes, she slowly opened her beautiful eyes.
“Hey.” She smiled. “What are you doing?”
“Watching you sleep.”
“It felt more like you were trying to rouse me. Or maybe arouse me.” She chuckled and ran her fingers slowly down my chest to my stomach, mimicking my actions, but she stopped right at the tip of my already rock-hard cock.
“I like the way you think.” I glanced at the one-way glass in the window facing the city. The sun was just coming up, and the rest of the household would be heading to bed. I hoped. “Come with me.” I grabbed her hand and tugged her up.
“But I’m naked.”
“That’s okay. So am I.” I grinned. “No one will see us. I promise.” I loved how modest she was. Most of the vampire females I’d been with could have cared less who saw them naked and pranced around, proudly showing themselves off. But not my Lily.
I stuck my arm under her legs and lifted her, cradling her in my arms as we dematerialized.
“Where are we?” she asked when I placed her back on her feet.
“This room is called the sunroom.” I locked the door and flicked on a red light. The red light was Lane’s idea, and a good one if you asked me. It was the indicator that the room was occupied and that the occupants did not want to be disturbed.
She looked at the light. “I suppose that means privacy?”
“See? I knew you were smart.” I grinned.
She chuckled and slowly looked around, absorbing every inch of the garden—the multiple bushes of roses in various colors, the daisies. The new tulips.
She took her time and looked around, finally looking up, she gasped and hid behind me.
> I laughed. “It’s just an illusion. A hologram that makes the ceiling look and move as though it’s the sky outside, but it can’t hurt you.”
“Wow. This is amazing.”
I took her hand. “Come with me.” I led her to the jetted tub as she continued to look up all the way. I stopped in front of the spa that was fairly new and pushed a button on the wall, turning on the jets as bubbles and foam floated to the surface.
“Ever had sex in a hot tub?”
“You know I haven’t.” If vampires could blush, her cheeks would have probably turned a gorgeous shade of crimson.
“Right.” I grinned and stepped into the warm, steamy pool and reached out my hand. “Come on, Lily. It feels good.” She took my hand and stepped in.
My arms immediately went around her, and I tugged her onto my lap as she draped her arms gently around my neck.
“You know, I love the fact that I am the only man you’ve ever been with. I should thank Dorian for that.”
“Is that because I don’t have anyone to compare you to?” she teased. “I mean, for all I know, you could be a terrible lover and I wouldn’t have any idea, would I? And this,”—she wrapped her fingers around my hard erection and I trembled from within—“could be really small compared to other men.”
“I assure you, it’s not!” I huffed out with a huskiness to my voice, and she laughed at my sudden need to defend the size of my manhood. I coughed, choking on my laugh.
“But how would I ever know?” she smirked.
I narrowed my eyes. “Woman, you need to stop before I find a reason to dunk you under before proving myself to you.”
Her eyes widened. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“I wouldn’t?” I shoved her backwards until she was fully submerged under the water. I didn’t hold her there long, just enough to get her hair and face wet. When I pulled her back up, my eyes grew lustful as my cock grew in size at the beautiful sight of a wet and dripping Lily. I wanted to be inside of her so badly.
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