I nod and tip my head toward my crotch. We both look at the erection pressing at the front of my pants, and his eyes widen. Then he slams his mouth back around my wrist. He’s beating his dick like it owes him money, and I feel like my own cock is going to split open from the pressure, so I shove my hand into my pants and rub at myself until I’m ready to come.
“You should come,” I tell him, eyes closed and lost in a memory. “It helps I think.”
I remember Birdie sucking me off with a mouthful of my own blood for lube after I’d drank from her and William and the way power surged through me with that first orgasm after I was turned. Nothing in my life had ever compared to that feeling, though the way I feel with Declan, now, is very fucking close.
He nods and slicks his tongue over the cut in my wrist, then he comes. His fingers tighten around my arm and I’m worried he’s going to break the bone, but the sound he makes as the first jet of cum flies out of his cock is enough to distract me and send me headfirst into my own orgasm.
It hits me so hard I actually see stars.
Declan doesn’t have my wrist in his mouth anymore and he’s staring at me like he’s just come back from the same magical plane of orgasmic bliss as I have. His cock is still hard between his legs; long and thick and…I reach out and drag my fingers up his length, cool to the touch.
“What the fuck,” he mutters, and it’s not really a question.
“Are you all right?”
“How old are you?” Declan looks at me like it’s the first time he’s seen me.
“Twenty-three,” I lie.
“No. Really.”
“Two hundred and eight.”
“When were you born?”
“1788.”And that’s the math of it. I was born then, lived twenty three years, and was born again in 1811.
Declan blinks at me and I tuck my sticky cock back into my pants and zip up. I feel oddly exposed having this conversation with him, even though it’s one I should have had well before I sank my teeth into his fucking femoral artery.
“Listen,” I exhale. “I should have told you all of this before, and I really meant to, but I fucked up, and I’m really sorry. And you can yell at me or whatever, but these curtains you have aren’t gonna cut it, so can we go back to my place, like right now?”
The sky outside his window isn’t light yet, but I know sunrise is near.
“What?”
I point at the window. “The sun. We shouldn’t be here. And I’m wiped out, and I know you probably feel like you could conquer the Romans on your own, but it needs to wait until tomorrow night, okay?”
“Uhm.”
I stand up and throw his clothes at him, then root around for my shirt and shoes.
“Please get dressed, Declan. Grab some spare clothes for now, too.”
He does as I ask, and I wonder if maybe, now that he’s turned, I can control him. I doubt it since I couldn’t before, but I’m new to all of this and I don’t know the delicacies of turning your own mate. I should have read a book or seven, because knowing I need to go home and ask my brother about it chafes at me in an unexpected way.
I’ve always known Henry is better at all of this than me, but there’s tangible proof of it now. It’s not that I want to be better than him, but I don’t want to be lesser. I want to be the kind of mate Declan deserves.
“Alright, let’s go.”
Declan is standing next to me, dressed, with his keys in his hand, and we walk silently out to his car, but he stops as he’s unlocking the door and inhales a deep breath. His eyes fly open and I give him what I hope is a reassuring smile. “You get used to it.”
He looks around, and I know exactly what he smells. The morning dew and the way it clings to the lilac bushes that are native to Wildemount and the night blooming jasmine that crawls up the stairs to his apartment. He smells us…the tangled mix of blood and pleasure and uncertain fear. And maybe he smells me, too.
“Come on.” I slide down into his passenger seat and lean over to push his door open. “We’ll talk once we get to my house.”
Declan gets into the car and drives us over the train tracks to my house. He parks on the curb alongside the entirely too dramatic wrought-iron gate, and he follows me inside. It’s nearly sun up, so I’m hoping everyone is asleep. I know Liz’s car is gone, but I don’t want to see my parents or my brothers, and I definitely don’t want to answer any questions until I’ve had some time with Declan.
He’s looking around at everything as we make our way up the stairs, and I pull him into my bedroom without a word. I kick off my shoes, throw my shirt over my head, and collapse onto my bed.
