Riley frowned, pressing in with his hips, just a touch. “You’re hard though.”
“Oh, I’m very aware,” Seth told him, unwrapping his legs from Riley’s waist. “But we’re not—we’re not doing anything about that. That’s way past kissing.”
“I don’t mind,” Riley said magnanimously.
Seth narrowed his eyes. “Up,” he ordered.
Riley released Seth’s hands and climbed off him, sitting in the far corner of the couch so he wouldn’t be tempted to sneak in more touches. He didn’t try to hide his erection. He didn’t know what the point of that would be.
Seth sat up slowly, taking a minute to catch his breath. He ran a hand down his face, then gave Riley a searching look. “Still friends, right?” he said after a moment.
“Friends,” Riley agreed.
He meant it too. He wanted to be Seth’s friend. He wanted to be Seth’severything.
But he also ached to press Seth down on the couch again. Not to bite, no matter what the stupid voice said. Not to drain. Just to…grind. And maybe undress. Maybe press more bare skin against bare skin. Maybe see where Seth liked to be kissed, beyond just his mouth.
Riley let out a long breath, trying not to pout in his corner.
Maybe there were a few drawbacks to slow and steady after all.
7
RILEY
Riley found his moms on the covered porch at the back of the house, curled up together on the couch, looking at something on one of their phones.
“He thinks I’m too young!” Riley called out as soon as he’d burst through the door.
He knew that, once again, he sounded like nothing more than a frustrated child, but he couldn’t help himself. He needed to vent, and there was no one else to vent to.
His moms had already been supporting him in his quest for Seth’s…friendship. Mostly they’d taken over the practical matters, which all centered around not letting Riley get too hungry.
They’d stocked up on blood bags from neighboring cities—Pine Bluff’s urgent care was too small to pilfer from too often, and the town didn’t have a hospital of its own—and they’d been reminding Riley to go hunting more often than usual.
Most vampires, once they’d adjusted to the change, needed to feed only about once a week. They didn’t need to take all thatmuch blood either—their kind didn’t have to kill to feed. But even though Riley was more or less fully grown now, he still usually had to feed two or three times a week. It was a vast improvement from when he’d been a growing kid and had needed to feed every day, sometimes more than once a day. The only thing that had stopped Riley from creating a national blood supply shortage during his childhood was that he, unlike most vampires, could feed from animals. And elk were plentiful in these parts.
But now Riley’s moms had been stuffing him full of blood in the hopes that it would help him remain calm around his future mate.
After the events of today, Riley couldn’t say for sure if they’d been successful.
He could still feel the press of Seth’s soft lips against his own like a phantom touch. Could still hear the echo of Seth’s quiet, gasping moan when Riley had ground down against him. Could still smell the scent of orange cake growing sweeter and richer around him until Riley could practically taste it on his tongue.
“He likes me,” Riley said in a much calmer voice as he approached the couch, speaking to himself more than his moms now. “I know he does. But he thinks I’m too young to act on it.”
And maybe immediately running to his moms about it was proving the point, but Riley didn’t exactly have anyone else to talk to.
Mama Daphne clapped her hands, like Riley had said something wonderful. “Oh, he’s a gentleman! Well, that’s lovely.”
“It’sfrustrating,” Riley countered, rubbing a hand over his mouth in an effort to wipe away the phantom touch and stop dwelling on that perfect fucking kiss.
Instead of offering reassurance, Mama Sybil gave Riley a devious sort of smile, holding up her phone. “Cheer up, sweetheart. We have a surprise for you.”
Riley reached for the phone without looking. “Is it Jay?” he asked hopefully.
Jay was the nicest of his mothers’ vampire associates and the most likely to listen willingly to Riley wax poetic about beautiful bakers and their delicious scents. Plus, Jay had always claimed his stoic, mobster mate smelled like vanilla cupcakes, so…common ground.
Mama Sybil cocked a brow. “Even better.”
