“Hm?” Mama Daphne gave him her most innocent look, waving a hand in the air. “Oh, just driving through town, I believe. In passing. So brief.”
She and Mama Sybil exchanged a look. Mama Sybil patted Riley’s hand. “All will be well, darling. We’ll make sure of it, won’t we?”
Riley only wished he felt more encouraged. But the phone call with Wolfe was more revealing than any empty words his mothers could give him.
No one had any faith in Riley, did they? And Riley couldn’t even say he blamed them.
He didn’t have much faith in himself these days.
Riley climbedthe pull-down steps to the attic, eager to take refuge in his hideout that wasn’t really a hideout at all.
He had his own bedroom, of course—the house was big enough for him to have two, if he really wanted—but this was where he went when he needed his moms to know he preferred to be alone.
He and Mama Daphne had cleaned and decorated the space not long after they’d first arrived, when his moms had realized Riley had a tendency to run and hide when he was feeling overwhelmed. He’d been going through a growth spurt at the time, and he’d eaten all the blood bags in the house, as well as all the members of the local rat community. He’d been ashamed, and he’d hidden alone in the bare, filthy attic until Mama Daphne had come for him.
It wasn’t filthy or bare anymore, not after Mama Daphne had finished with it. There were strings of fairy lights hanging from the angled ceiling, which was just tall enough to walk underneath without hunching. And by the little square window that looked out onto the forest below, there was a cozy armchair, a basket of blankets, and two small bookcases full of favorite books.
Riley didn’t feel quite the same shame that had once driven him here either. He was old enough now to know it had all been beyond his control, even if sometimes that was hard to remember. He’d been young and hungry—so, so hungry—and the fact that he hadn’t killed any humans yet was honestly a miracle.
Mostly that miracle had been achieved by avoidance. Riley hadn’t been allowed to leave the woods surrounding the propertyuntil he’d turned eighteen. The closest he’d come to a mishap was when he’d been out hunting elk and stumbled upon a young woman lost in the woods. It had taken everything in him to leave without feeding, even knowing he wouldn’t have been able to stop in time to save her from himself.
Would Seth have forgiven Riley if he had slipped? Would he still kiss Riley so willingly if Riley had used that same mouth to drain someone dry?
He might have. He seemed the forgiving sort.
But maybe that was only wishful thinking.
Riley made his way over to the window and sank down into the armchair. It was low to the ground, with soft fleece-like upholstery and a wide seat. Wide enough to fit two people, actually, a fact that Riley had never considered until now. Seth could be sitting here right next to him, warm and soft and smelling like orange cake.
Arousal stirred low in Riley’s belly, almost against his will.
God, he wanted him. He wanted Seth so badly.
Riley had wanted him from the first moment he’d seen him, even if he’d confused it for a very different kind of hunger at the time.
It wasn’t like Riley was naive. Not exactly. He’d been as curious as anyone else growing up. He’d checked out porn furtively on his laptop late at night. With his enhanced hearing, he’d heard couples in the woods too, teens sneaking out to bump their parts together without parents interfering. Riley always tried to retreat when that happened, but he’d caught enough snatches to have an idea of things. Not that those fumbling teen boys were exactly Casanovas to emulate or anything.
It just hadn’t ever…appealed. The porn especially. All those fake moans and the frantic humping. Everything happened so fast, and the close-up shots seemed almost clinical, body parts sticking into other body parts. What was so sexy about someone’s dick thrusting in and out of someone else’s hole?
It hadn’t ever gotten him riled up in any serious way. Even the voice had been bored, and vampires were supposed to be wired for sex as well as violence. Masturbation had always been infrequent and not due to anything specific—just an itch that occasionally needed scratching.
Riley had thought it was another area in which he was an anomaly, another way he was maybe broken, another sign that he probably didn’t have a mate waiting in the wings.
But Rileydidhave a mate after all. And he smelled like everything delicious in the world, and his calloused hands were so careful in their touch, and he felt so good under Riley, whether on the pavement or on an ugly couch.
Riley’s cock twitched with interest, and he hurried to unbutton his jeans. It hadn’t been a lie, what he’d told Seth earlier: Riley touched himself more often now. Usually after visiting the bakery, after having Seth invade his senses for hours and hours.
Riley wished he’d gotten to touch him more today. Wished he’d gotten to taste other parts of Seth besides his soft lips.
Riley grasped his cock, which was filling more rapidly the longer he thought of having Seth underneath him.
He thought back to that first night, when he’d overheard Seth talking on the phone. There’d been a theory as to why Riley had said he wanted to eat him…
DidRiley want to eat Seth’s ass? It hadn’t been the reason Riley had tackled him, but…probably, right?
It was another thing that didn’t sound appealing out of context, but the thought ofSethbeneath him, his fleshy globes in the air and his face pressed into a mattress while Riley devoured him?
Riley stroked his cock, letting out a harsh breath. Fuck, yes.Thatwould be appealing.
