Luc grunted in approval, burying himself deep, grinding against Jamie as he found his own release, his breath hot against Jamie’s neck, his fingers tightening against Jamie’s throat.
Jamie relished the pressure, the hold his vampire had on him.
As soon as Luc loosened that grip, Jamie collapsed into a warm, sated puddle. “Mm. What a gentle, sweet lover you’ve become, monster.”
Luc bit at his shoulder with blunt teeth, his weight pressing Jamie into the deck. “Stop goading me, or I’ll fuck you rough and wild with your family in the next room over, just to see if you can control your desperate screams. Do you think you could manage it, flower?”
Jamie only laughed, unbelievably happy. “Pervert.”
Hours later,after they’d both first rinsed off in the warm sea, then dried off in the warm sun—watching it set on the horizon, turning the water a vibrant, rosy pink—Luc was brushing the sleeves of Jamie’s linen jacket.
“Don’t I look a bit slutty with a jacket and no shirt?” Jamie asked, eyeing himself critically in the mirror of their boat cabin. Luc had buttoned the two middle buttons of the jacket, but Jamie still had an awful lot of chest showing, set off by the emeralds glittering against his neck.
“Mm. You do,” Luc agreed with satisfaction, smirking at Jamie’s glower. “Don’t change it.”
Jamie arched a brow. “I get a cigarette after dinner, then.”
Smoking wasn’t harmful to him anymore, not with his new vampire status, but Luc still insisted the smoke detracted too much from Jamie’s natural scent.
Luc inclined his head in agreement.
“Nice.” Jamie grinned, triumphant.
“Wherearewe going for dinner?” Luc asked, adjusting the cuffs of his own jacket, a black linen number. (Jamie had teased him mercilessly for the matching outfits, but Luc hadn’t been even the slightest bit ashamed of his choice.)
Jamie shrugged. “I don’t know the name of the neighborhood, but I know I can find it when we dock.”
Jamie had searched in his head for their prey the night before. He wondered if he’d ever get over it: the relief and joy in being able to direct his visions, in having control over his own mind. They didn’t use it so much in Tucson (other than one particular visit they’d made to an old man Luc had claimed he had unfinished business with), sticking to smaller meals—ones where the victim didn’t end up a corpse—so as not to ruffle the twins’ feathers or cause themselves any permanent trouble.
But their trips abroad were fair game for a little bloodshed.
Jamie never felt more powerful than when he was taking down some scum of the earth with his fearsome monster at his side. Jamie’s own inner vampire didn’t seem to crave the killings—not the way it craved Luc’s cock, for instance—but he could tell it pleased Luc’s monster that they still allowed him his occasional reign of terror.
They’d have to be careful with the body this time; Jamie didn’t want a police search messing with his family’s vacation. They were joining them for two weeks of Izzy’s summer break, flying into Naples tomorrow.
“I’m going to get blood all over this white linen,” Jamie mused, stroking the front of his jacket.
Luc smirked at him in the mirror. His green eyes matched Jamie’s new jewels, but even with the vibrant color, Jamie would swear he could still see the shadows dancing behind them sometimes. “I know, flower. It will look divine.”
“As long as we’re decent in the morning. We need to leave early to get to the airport in time. And I promised Izzy pizza the moment she got here.”
“I have some spots in mind. And a bakery your mother will adore.”
Jamie couldn’t help how his grin widened at Luc’s words. His monster took such care with Jamie’s family. He’d noted Jamie’s mother’s sweet tooth—something she did her best to hide even from her children—and was always bringing her special treats. Izzy he treated like a little princess, and he never once lost his temper when Eric peppered him with questions about his work or his past or a million other things everyone else knew not to ask about.
“You’re a big softie, you know that?”
Luc wrapped his broad hand once again around the front of Jamie’s neck, pressing lightly. “Will you still be saying that when I rip out our dinner’s throat?”
“Well, maybe not in that exact moment…”
“I am soft for you and yours. No one else.”
Jamie loved the truth in that statement more than Luc would ever know. “I love you, monster. So much it hurts sometimes.”
“And I you. There is no pain on earth as exquisite as the grip you have on my heart, flower.”
Jamie supposed some might have seen their declarations as morbid, but they were perfect for him.Lucwas perfect for him. Jamie had always known it. “Aren’t you glad I saw you in my dreams?”
