Zack joined Takashi beside the bookcase. His desires were a roiling mess. New ones brewed quick and hot, then morphed into another before Takashi could interpret what Zack was feeling. There was a steady undercurrent of fear—likely, Zack feared that remaining in the mansion would turn him into a version of Seamus.
“We have each other.” Takashi gently put his hand on Zack’s elbow.
“Roger spent three hundred years with him,” Zack murmured. “I can’t do that.”
“I couldn’t either.”
Zack unfolded his arms and lightly took Takashi’s hand in his. “What do you think Roger would think of all this?”
“That it’s very confusing.” Takashi squeezed Zack’s hand. “I hope we find a way to ask him sooner rather than later.”
Zack returned his grip, though his was stronger, nearly bone-crushing. “Yeah. I mean, if he hasn’t left Chicago, then there’s got to be a way.”
“Exactly.” Takashi leaned against Zack. They were side by side and, fates willing, could be until the sun turned the planet to ash. Longer, if they found some way to escape that destruction.
However, in the short term, they didn’t have much time. He nudged Zack. “You should get cleaned up.”
Slowly, Zack nodded. He gave Takashi a tight smile. “Help me? I’m sure I’ve got dirt in places I can’t reach.”
“Of course.” Takashi kissed Zack’s cheek.
As Zack led the way to the bathroom, Takashi put tighter locks around his growing fears. What was the game? Most coven masters struggled to maintain their status quo from forces inside and out. If Seamus was keeping Zack so close to him, was there a source of danger?
Too many whats and what-ifs. I need to be here for Zack, for both our sakes. So Takashi centered himself and kept histhoughts on the new swagger in Zack’s gait. He, Zack, and Roger now had forever with which to build a lasting relationship. Three powerful vampires.We could conquer the world if we wanted.
CHAPTER 15
Each new step in this night was a mass of confusion and bizarre changes. Zack had hoped that the people who loved him would still accept him, and yet Takashi’s blatant yearning for him was surprising. As Zack held on to his hand, he felt the pop-up growing larger and larger in his mind. He didn’t receive a direct image, but Takashi’s lust inspired a vivid desire to pin Takashi up against a wall and kiss him until they were both panting.
Only neither of us breathes. So that’d be a while. A longing for more than a kiss grew into a fiercer urge.
He’d died. He could admit what he wanted, at least to himself.
He wanted to fuck Takashi until they were both hoarse from screaming. He wanted to shred his clothes and bend him over. He wanted to do the same to Roger, too—to take him by the hair and yank his head back while he fucked him hard from behind. To feel the way either of them would clench around his cock. To overwhelm them until they were begging for release. To fuckingowntheir bodies like he hoped he owned their hearts.
The feedback loop that had died for a moment flared to brilliant life. Zack pushed Takashi up against the bathroom wall.Takashi moaned with a soft, desperate sound that Zack had only heard Roger make him do before.
The fact that he hadn’t elicited that specific moan as a mortal but had as a vampire threatened to flip a switch in Zack’s mind. Anger attempted to infect his thoughts, but he channeled it into a fierce shield.What do I want? I want to be in fucking charge. He grinned at Takashi, showing his fangs.
The pop-upgrew. Takashi liked him like this. That little thought threatened to resummon the self-doubt that Zack had given an interior voice to for far too long. It wanted to cut through Zack’s bond with Takashi and grind his hopes for their relationship into dust.
I’ve turned him on before.He just hadn’t had the inside track to his lover’s desires. Now he knew which motions, which caresses were exciting without having to exchange a word or wait for a moan. The emotional reaction came first, the body illustrating it soon after. Slowly, Zack put his hand on Takashi’s shoulder, his thumb on the base of his throat, and confidently held him up against the wall while he grinned wider. His smile felt as wicked as his fangs were sharp.
Takashi tried for a kiss.
But Zack leaned just out of his range. The loop was building, and Zack was determined to stay in control. He could keep his head above this. Doing so was surprisingly fun.
“No wonder you chaffed under those rules,” Takashi said. “You’re a Dom.”
“Aren’t all vampires?” Zack asked.
“We all play the dominant in public, but some of us find no happiness within that spectrum.” Takashi relaxed against the wall, spreading his legs just a little and generally opening his body language. “And some of us like variety.”
“I take it that means you’re a switch.” Zack nipped at Takashi’s lips, accidentally catching one between his fangs.Takashi gasped, and a drop of his blood struck Zack’s lip. Reflexively, he licked it. Takashi’s blood was … appealing. He ran his tongue over where the drop had been, but no taste remained.
“Careful,” Takashi said. “Blood sharing is a powerful bond, and you won’t find my blood as satisfying as a mortal’s.”
“Does vampire blood always taste weird?”
