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“Hours?”

I feel his lips brush the tip of my nose. “Yes, little mate. We haven’t stopped for hours.”

With that knowledge I now welcome the exhaustion and let myself fall, feeling Xander gently pull from my abused hole and I whine, hating the emptiness that follows. I can still feel his hot seed inside me and I dread the moment I can’t feel it any longer.

If he can drink from me then why can’t I carry a piece of him?

“Shh, I’ve got you,” Xander hushes me as something brushes my hole. It feels like the tip of his cock and I faintly smile. Until he pushes inside and the large base pops past my rim, sealing me shut.

A butt plug.

My eyes flutter open as I fight the incoming wave of sleep. “What are you doing?”

Xander is a mere silhouette against the orange glow of the hallway as he sinks down into the coffin beside me, wrapping an arm over my waist and pulling me in tightly against his chest.

“Making sure my seed stays where it belongs.” He kisses the shell of my ear. “And for my scent to take hold, so everyone knows you’re mine.”

My heart flutters and I wiggle, testing the weight of the plug. It’s heavy enough, but it isn’t his cock. I sigh. It will have to suffice.

The creak of the coffin is my final warning before Xander is pulling it shut and locking us inside. The darkness consumes us and our love making amplifies in the enclosed space.

“Now there’s nowhere left for you to run. You’re mine forever.” Xander’s voice is like a shout from the distance as sleep drags me under.

But I manage to get a few syllables free. “You’re mine too.”

“Always.”

Chapter Twelve

Noah

When I was a young boy, I used to have photos and magazine cutouts of all my favorite actors and singers and even some sports players. I used to idolize them for their looks, charisma or talent.

Every wall of my bedroom was covered, even the back of my door had a photo of my favorite k-pop band. And it wasn’t until I turned sixteen that my family began questioning why I had so many photos of men and not a single woman.

Maybe it was just who I was, deep down in the darkness of my soul. For those few years of my life, I was blissfully unaware of my sexuality. Sure, some girls in school were cute, but I never had a desire to talk to them. Maybe it was the bright orange hair I could never seem to tame, the kind that made me stick out no matter where I went. And if my classmates were anything to go by, orange definitely wasn’t cool.

I was 17 before I finally noticed it. On my birthday, with all our friends crowded around the pool, my best friend’s eyes kept drifting back to mine… a little too often to be accidental.

His name was Callum. He was smart and funny and had a girlfriend, Chelsea. They were going to prom together and were even trying to get into the same college just so they wouldn’t have to go long-distance.

I never thought of Callum as more than my best friend. But that particular day, under the July sun, did his blue gaze catch mine.

It was subtle at first. A joke had been told, and we both laughed while Maroon 5 played on the speaker. I caught him watching me while I lounged on my pool float, his gaze lingering just long enough to make my stomach flip. Later that night, at the barbecue, I looked up and found him staring again, standing beside my dad as he dished up burgers.

Callum smiled. But it wasn’t like his normal, toothy grin. No, this smile was something shy and gentle. Shy didn’t fit with Callum.

So of course I asked him about it later that night after everyone had left the party and it was just the two of us in my bedroom. Me in my bed and Callum on a mattress on the floor.

‘Why did you smile at me like that?’

‘Like what?’

I couldn't find an answer. Partially because I didn't know but also because I couldn't understand why my heart fluttered or why my body heated at the thought of my best friend.

After my birthday, Callum began hanging out with Chelsea a lot more. His excuse to not come over was because he had to study to get into college and on the weekends he was somehow always out of town.

That summer I took down all my posters and cutouts. It was the same summer I lost my best friend.