“Maybe I need a raise?” Ledger said playfully. “But I’m a professional and I’ve encountered worse than her since I became a sommelier.” He shrugged, unconcerned. “It kinda comes with the territory when you work for wineries of this calibre.”
Ledger held on to his amusement for about two seconds, until Dacian rolled his eyes at him. The vampire wasn’t as up his own ass as Thorn made out.
“Calibre! Fuck, you sound like Vivien the way you say that.” Dark eye danced with humor while he slapped Ledger on the shoulder in a friendly gesture. For a moment, Ledger considered if he should ask what was up with them all, but he pushed the thought aside. He wasn’t sure if he was at that stage of asking personal questions.
Instead, he chuckled and agreed. “Your wines are world renowned, it’s why I applied for a job here. I can’t blame miss ‘I’ve got a stick so far up my shifter ass I can’t see the divergents in my family tree’, when I’m very snobbish about what wine touches my palate.” His chuckles increased. “And if I get to fleece her while I’m doing my job, then all the better.”
“How much did she buy today?” Dacian asked, his head tilting as his gaze narrowed on Ledger, clearly picking up Ledger’s excitement at the sales he’d made today.
“All the Chinuri wine we have left from the 87 batch,” he supplied smugly.
Dacian coughed and spluttered, his eyes widening. “Y-you d-did?”
Ledger rubbed his nails on his lapel and gave Dacian a self-satisfied smirk. “You bet your sweet ass I did.”
“Now, why would you be calling my brother’s ass sweet?” Thorn growled, appearing as if from nowhere to stand at Ledger’s side, looking at Dacian like he might rip his throat out.
Dressed in a dark gray, tailored suit, one would believe he was the epitome of a gentleman. Yet, if one looked closer, the beast within lurked close to the surface. Ledger had to ask himself if folks just ignored the obvious as he stared at Thorn, picking up the dangerous edge the suit could never conceal.
“Because it is,” Dacian taunted, clearly loving winding his brother up.
“Give over. The only ass I have a craving for is yours,” Ledger interjected before Dacian pushed all Thorn’s buttons. “And I was explaining how I fleeced Vivien.”
Thorn turned his attention to Ledger. “Fleeced her?”
Ledger gave a little bow, his grin widening. “Why yes. She is now the proud owner of the remaining batch of the 87 vintage of Chinuri.”
Thorn looked like Ledger had used a stun gun on him. He jerked visibly, rocking in his shoes before his lips parted, only for nothing to come out.
Ledger wiggled his butt and spun on his heel to head back into the winery singing, “I got them moves like Jagger.”
Disappearing inside, he giggled when he heard Thorn say, “He’s a fucking genius.”
He was!
Chapter Thirteen
Thorn
Stretched out on the messy sheets, Thorn barely had the strength to lift his head to glance sideways at Ledger, who released a sigh that sounded a lot like utter contentment. Thescent of their lovemaking filled the room with its sweetness. Ledger’s heat had started three days earlier, or maybe it was four, Thorn had lost track.
“Three days,” Ledger mumbled, rolling into his side and flopping his leg over Thorn’s. The stickiness coating his skin became more obvious from the last round of hot, sweaty sex.
“Mmmm,” he replied, finding the strength to nuzzle Ledger’s hair as he moved to tuck his head under Thorn’s chin, his warm, come-covered body plastering to Thorn’s.
Thorn shifted to wrap an arm around Ledger’s waist and settle him more comfortably against him, working to stop the spread of cum and slick. Thoughts of feeding Ledger became prevalent when his mate’s belly released a loud grumbling sound. “Hungry?”
“Think so,” Ledger mumbled into Thorn’s neck. His breath tickled the skin there. “When did we last eat?”
Thorn glanced towards the billowing curtains, looking out the window at the setting sun. “This morning… maybe.” He couldn’t be sure. In the months they’d been together, time passed at a speed that Thorn had never experienced before. He was grateful for his longevity as he wanted an eternity with Ledger.
He might not have noticed time passing, but what he did know was how this heat differed from the last two. To Thorn, this one seemed more intense, more… frantic? Was it the increase of time spent together? He wasn’t sure and couldn’t quite think of the right word to explain the difference with how tired he was, but they’d had less down time between the waves of Ledger’s heat this time. Given how his cock ached from all the action it had seen in the last three days, he was quite sure of that.
“Yeah, I think I could eat something.” Ledger’s comment interrupted his thoughts, which shifted to food.
He’d stocked up, so there was plenty of food in the refrigerator. He just needed another few minutes to gain backthe strength in his legs. Lowering, but the truth. Thorn couldn’t recall a time he’d fucked anyone and run out of steam, until now.
A smugness came through their link. Clearly Ledger had picked up on his thoughts. “You don’t need to be so smug.”
