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Carver snorted.

Cupping Carver’s face, Dante urged the boy to look up at him. Dante stared into Carver’s gorgeous green eyes and smiled. “You are beautiful. And I get the honor of seeing you now as a fighter, a survivor, before you grow healthy and happy. You will be even more gorgeous then. You are perfect, sweet boy.”

“I’m far from perfect,” Carver argued. “You don’t even know!”

“I know what is in your heart,” Dante told him. “I know that you are struggling every day but you haven’t given up. I know that I want to take care of you, feed you, love you. And I know that someday you will trust me and it will be the biggest gift you could ever give me.”

Carver swallowed hard. “You are going to be so disappointed in me.”

“Never.” Dante whispered his promise. “I will never be disappointed in you. No matter what, boy. I’m not perfect either. I’ve made mistakes, many of them, but I learned from them, as we all will. I will help you, the clan will help, you aren’t alone.”

Pulling himself out of Dante’s hold, Carver gave him the fakest smile that Dante had ever seen. “I’m just being silly.”

“No—”

Carver grabbed the bottom of his shirt before yanking it over his head and tossing it away. “Like you said, you’ve already seen me naked, and I am hungry, and want you inside me.”

While the words weren’t untrue—Carver did want him, and was hungry—everything else was utter bullshit. It hurt. Even knowing that it would take time to earn Carver’s trust, the lies were starting to add up.

Once whatever Carver was hiding from him came out, Dante was going to be very firm about making sure his boy never lied to him again. Dante couldn’t help if Carver didn’t let him. At this point, Carver was only hurting himself.

The boy undressed quickly. “Naked!”

This Dante could work with. “Lie down on the bed. Daddy wants to touch.”

Carver flashed him a grin and scrambled back up the bed. He flopped down with his head on a pillow and spread out his arms and legs. “I’m ready. Are you going to devour me, Daddy?”

“I just might.” The boy went from playful to worried and back at a head-spinning speed. Dante knew just how to draw Carver back to him. To make all the bad thoughts, worries, and everything else slip away.

Walking around the bed, Dante ignored the squirming boy to open the bedside table drawer. He pulled out the bottle of lube and set it within reach. Running his gaze down Carver’s body, Dante familiarized himself with every inch of Carver’s body. Where the boy’s ribs stuck out, the sharpness of his hip bones, and the lack of body hair. Yes, Carver was in an unhealthy state but Dante could and would fix that.

He returned to the foot of the bed and lifted one knee onto the mattress.

“Are you just going to look?” Carver asked.

Since Dante could hear the nerves in the words, he ignored them. Instead, he grasped Carver’s ankle and lifted it to his mouth and gave the bone a kiss.

Carver sucked in a breath.

“I’m going to enjoy you,” Dante vowed.

Nibbling up Carver’s leg, Dante did just that. He kept his lips gentle, almost painfully teasing, and just like he predicted, Carver turned into a sweet and needy pile of goo.

By the time Dante had made his way up one of Carver’s legs and down the other, Carver was already begging.

“Not done yet.” Dante leaned over Carver’s cock and swiped his tongue across the tip, collecting the precome. “Mmm.”

“Please!” Carver tried pushing his hips up.

Dante chuckled evilly before running his tongue across Carver’s belly button and dipping his tongue inside.

“Mmph!” Carver croaked.

Giving Carver’s soft skin a quick nip, Dante worked himself back up. The boy tasted like all of Dante’s favorite things. Like Carver was made especially for him. And with the bond that was continuing to grow, that might just be the truth. Carver hadn’t understood the reason that Dante’s blood had tasted so different was because the bond had been in the very beginning stage of forming. This time would be even better and each time in the future would only increase in flavor and healing properties.

Clans had been formed in vampire societies for this very reason.

Living, working, hunting, and surviving together had built their strength in every aspect. Other leaders ran their people with fear and pain. Dante had figured out a long time ago that a healthy and happy clan grew the bond to unbreakable levels.