“Wondering what that smell is?”
Nick’s gaze lifted to meet Logan’s. The earthy smell grew stronger, like soil after rain, and Nick knew with uncanny certainty it was coming from Logan. Not human. Something wilder, something ancient. “What are you?”
“What are you?” Logan tilted his head.
“I don’t know anymore.” Nick’s words trembled between them. “Please go. Whatever’s inside me, it wants your blood more than I want to keep you safe.”
“It isn’t separate from you, sweetheart.” Logan’s eyes held the patience of centuries. “The sickness, the pain, the blackouts. They’ve always been you trying to become yourself.” He stepped closer, and without thinking, Nick retreated. “Our bond awakened its voracious appetite. I wasn’t your victim. I was your mirror.”
“Stop!” The word broke from Nick’s throat.
“Say what you already know,” Logan murmured.
Nick’s eyes fell to the pulse in Logan’s neck, the wound already knitting closed. He could hear the blood singing beneath that thin barrier of skin, a lullaby he’d been searching for his entire life.
“No,” he breathed, unsure if he was denying the truth or begging himself not to give in.
Logan’s knuckles brushed his cheek, and Nick leaned into the touch before he could stop himself. For a few heartbeats, the hunger receded, starved more for affection than for blood.
“Tell me what you are, love.”
“A monster.” Nick’s voice cracked.
“No.” Logan traced his jaw with reverent fingers. “You were starving. Not malicious.” His lips brushed Nick’s ear, sending a violent shudder from the base of Nick’s spine straight to his cock. “What are you?”
“Hungry,” Nick softly confessed, eyes closing against tears. “I’m so tired of this feeling.” He drew a breath that felt like his first. “Vampire. I’m a vampire.” He still didn’t know how, but he couldn’t deny the truth.
“Feed.” Logan pulled him close, offering his neck. “One meal won’t erase a lifetime of hunger.”
“I tried to kill you,” Nick said, even as he pressed his face to Logan's neck.
“You were finally being freed,” Logan corrected softly.
Nick sank his fangs deep, a guttural moan escaping as hot blood flooded his mouth. His fingers twisted in Logan's hair, clutching desperately. Logan captured Nick's wrists in one powerful hand, guiding them behind his own back.
“You’re not the one in control.” Logan’s deep growl rumbled through his chest, proving he wasn’t human.
Nick didn’t care what he was. Logan was giving him what his body had been crying out for his entire life.
Nick's cock hardened instantly, throbbing painfully against his zipper. He rutted shamelessly against Logan's thigh, each thrust sending sparks of pleasure up his spine while he sucked greedily at the wound.
“Are you with me?” Logan’s voice was rough velvet against Nick’s ear. “Need to know you want this, Nick. All of it.”
Logan was just as affected by the feeding as Nick was. Nick’s answer was to suck harder, his hips bucking uncontrollably as pleasure and hunger became indistinguishable.
Shoving away from the wall, Logan strode toward the bed. “Feeding’s over, mate. It’s time we do something about this fucking heat gripping my dick.”
Nick didn’t want to stop, but he forced himself to gently remove his fangs.
“Lick the wound closed,” Logan instructed.
As soon as Nick was done, Logan dropped Nick onto the bed, his movements frantic, his hands pulling at Nick’s jeans as Nick desperately tried to kick them off. Oh, Nick saw now that Logan hadn’t come to play.
Good, neither had Nick.
* * * *
Logan traced his fingertips along Nick’s jaw, slow and deliberate, his thumb brushing the soft skin beneath his bottom lip. A shudder rippled through Nick, his lips parting, his breath catching hard enough that Logan felt it against his own mouth.
