Page 23 of Bad Blood (Monsters of London Book 1)

Instead of moving into my arms, Lucien stands, but I can’t complain as my eyes roam over the smooth, pale skin he’s already exposed. God, I want to lick him all over.

He unfastens his trousers and takes a step closer, letting them ride low on his slim hips. I swallow hard. There’s no hiding the effect he has on me—or me on him, judging by the bulge I can see still trapped by expensive fabric.

“Help me?” he asks.

I grin. His accent is stronger now, definitely French, and I love the way it curls around his words. I take him by the hips and lean forward, pressing a kiss to his stomach. Lucien shivers. He cards his fingers through my hair as I tug his trousers and underwear down, pushing him back so I can move lower. I lick over the groove of his hip and close my eyes when he moans.

His cock is pretty and flushed, and my mouth waters when I look at it. I’m on my knees now, still holding tight to Lucien’s hips.

I look up at him through my lashes. He wants me to fuck him and, oh, we’ll absolutely get to that. But I can be greedy, too. “Lucien…?”

His hand tightens in my hair. “Yes. Please, yes…”

I don’t hesitate. I lick along the length of Lucien’s cock and my own twitches at the moan that echoes around the room. I tease him with my tongue, sucking kisses down his shaft, and he whines above me, clearly holding back the urge to drag me where he wants me and take what he needs.

I suck on the head of his cock, ever so gently, swiping my tongue over his slit to gather up the pre-cum there. Bitterness bursts on my tongue and I moan. I take more of Lucien in my mouth, sucking harder. Fuck. I don’t want anything other than this. Than him.

All too soon, Lucien urges me off and up, pushing me back onto the bed. Amused, I let him. He kisses the smile from my mouth, climbing into my lap, and I groan when he settles against me, our cocks brushing together.

He moves against me, rolling his hips, and I put one hand firmly on his lower back, keeping him close. He moans. He kisses my jaw and I tip my head back, watching him through half-lidded eyes.

Everywhere he touches feels suddenly alive. He sets his lips to my throat, apparently intent to leave a mark, and I dig my fingers into his hips. Going to that station with him tonight, running from the police… It felt like a hunt, and for once, I don’t push back the little voice in my head that tells me that. I drag Lucien’s face up and kiss him instead. What if I’ve found something I didn’t know I was looking for?

From the way Lucien holds on to me, I think maybe he has, too.

My hand slides lower, ghosting over Lucien’s arse and between his cheeks. He jerks when I brush over his hole, but when I move my hand, he kisses me again, biting at my lips until I press my fingers against him harder.

“I want you,” he grinds out between kisses. “Kieran, please.”

I suck in a shuddering breath. “Anything you want,” I say and mean it in a way I never have before. “But we need—”

Lucien licks up the side of my throat. I shiver. I know he won’t bite me, not unless I beg him for it, but the danger is still there, pulsing just beneath my skin.

“Fuck,” he mutters.

I laugh despite myself, kissing Lucien’s chest when he leans past me to check in the drawer next to the bed.

His expression is stormy when he shifts back onto my lap and I surge up to kiss him again, tangling my hands in all that silky soft hair. He whimpers, rocking against me.

“Bathroom?” I ask between kisses.

Lucien swears again. He’s suddenly gone, and I move on the bed, sitting back against the headboard. I’m half-hard again, so I stroke my cock slowly, biting back the groan my own touch causes. I want nothing more than to be inside Lucien—I don’t know how I’ll survive the night if I’m not—but I need to go slower than I truly desire.

I’m not a fool. I saw the way Lucien tensed when we entered the building, then the flat itself. Something bad happened here, and though I might be distracting him from it, I don’t want to push too hard too fast.

Besides, he deserves care. Time.

My attention jerks back to the present when he reappears in the doorway. He stands there for a moment, looking me over slowly, and my skin prickles at the weight of it.

There’s no doubt I’m in a predator’s lair. Danger prickles down my spine, but I lift my chin, stroking my cock from root to tip again. Lucien’s eyes follow the movement. They’ve gone dark with how turned on he is, pupils so blown there’s only a hint of green at the edges. Is the desire I can see written plain on his face reflected on my own?

I don’t have to wonder for long. Lucien climbs back onto the bed, dropping a bottle of lube and a condom next to my hip. He kisses me until we’re both breathless, winding his arms around my neck and pressing close.

“You look at me as though you wish to devour me,” he murmurs against my mouth.

I freeze. I can’t help it. I don’t want to push too hard too fast. I don’t want to—

“I find I have the same desire,” Lucien says. He kisses me again and I lose myself to it, fighting the urge to grab Lucien around the waist and roll him onto his back, to hold him down while I drive him mad with desire.

Lucien pushes the lube into my hand. “I can do it myself if you prefer.”

I look up at him, breathing hard. There’s just a hint of uncertainty in his gaze, and I want it gone. I squirt some of the lube onto my fingers and take his cock in a firm grip. Lucien yelps at the coolness of it, the sudden touch, but I answer his mock glare with a smile.

“I absolutely would not prefer,” I reply. “You think I’m going to give up the chance to make you moan for me?”

Lucien blushes. His cheekbones turn an adorable pink and I brush our lips together before I let go of his cock. I slide my fingers down Lucien’s cleft again, this time circling his hole with a slick finger, and his thighs shake. He plants one hand on the headboard above my head, lifting up slightly to give me better access.

I grin. I lean up and lick over his nipple as I apply pressure, and he groans in reply. He’s so responsive. My own cock is hard again now, leaking at the knowledge of it, at the wonder that is the almost perfect way we seem to fit together.

Something warms in my chest at the thought. I scrape my teeth over Lucien’s nipple, the tip of my finger finally pushing inside. He lets out a gasping breath. I tilt my head back, watching his expression carefully, and push in further when his face clears.

Lucien pushes back against me. He groans when I start thrusting my finger in and out slowly, circling his nipple with my tongue.

“More,” he groans, and I’m happy to oblige.

I stretch Lucien as slowly as I’m able, distracting myself from my own needs as I lean to kiss up to his collarbone. Lucien tangles his fingers in my hair, holding me in place when I nip at his skin, aching to leave a darker, deeper bite.

“Do it,” Lucien murmurs. He gives me enough slack that I can lean back and meet his eyes. I’m fucking him slowly with two fingers now, but I know neither of us will hold out for much longer.

I lick my lips at the gravity of Lucien’s expression. He really wants…

Lucien moves. He lowers himself into my lap again and I push my fingers in deep, swallowing hard at the way he arches his back, a moan spilling from his lips. He never takes his gaze away.

“Leave a mark on me, Kieran,” he says lowly. He taps the spot on his chest that has gone red from my playful bite.

“You…” I swallow hard and war with myself for a second. I don’t want to give in to that urge, but the thought of seeing Lucien laid out for me, begging and desperate and covered in my marks…

He tugs on my hair, hard enough this time that pain prickles my scalp. I let out my own moan, pushing my fingers in deep.

“I want it,” he growls. Fuck, I wasn’t lying before. He looks gorgeous like this, flushed and demanding, eyes full of desire.

“You’re sure?” I ask. I trust Lucien to know his own mind. I do. I just need to be certain. Even if the marks will fade before the sun rises, I need to know.

Something in his face softens. He lowers his head and kisses me slowly, gently, teasing my mouth with tongue and teeth.

“I am entirely certain,” he replies. “I will tell you if you do something I do not want, and I know that you will stop because I know the kind of person you are.”

I nod. “I will, I will, but—”

Lucien kisses me again. “I want you to mark me,” he says when we part. “I want you to fuck me the way you want to, the way that makes your gaze heat when you look at me. I am not as fragile as all that.”

Something inside me snaps. I seize Lucien around the waist and roll us until he’s on his back under me. He blinks up at me, smiling faintly, but the smile drops when I latch onto one nipple, sucking hard.

I still want to please him. I want to coax every sound out of Lucien that he can make. I want to take him right to that edge and watch him tremble as he tips over it, make him come over and over until he begs me to stop.

He groans. I move my mouth upwards, biting his pec gently before I suck a mark onto his chest. He tastes like salt, and the skin warms as I pull blood to the surface. When he moans again, I lift my head to admire what I’ve left behind.

It’s right over Lucien’s heart. He presses his fingers to it, letting out a quiet noise when he does.

I push my fingers back inside him and he moans again. He’s so hot, so tight; I don’t know how I’m going to stand it. I snatch up the condom and roll it on, still stretching him open as I fumble the lube open with one hand.

Lucien takes it from me, and I realise my free hand is trembling. I grasp at his thigh to still it. Lucien pauses before he hands it back, gaze sweeping over me. “We can do something else,” he says quietly. “We can stop.”

I shake my head, and when I tug my fingers free, Lucien gasps. “I need you,” I admit, hardly able to meet his gaze. My voice comes out rough.

Lucien lets out a shaky breath. He pushes the lube into my hand and brushes our lips together before he lets go and settles back on the bed again, spreading his thighs a little wider.

“Then take me.”

I surge forward and kiss Lucien hard, rocking our hips together until he moans and writhes against me. When we part, Lucien stares up at me and I know neither of us can wait much longer.

I slick up my cock and line it with Lucien’s hole. He pushes back against me. I grab his hips with one hand to still him and, slowly, begin to push inside.

As much as some part of my mind screams at me to shove forward, to take what Lucien is so freely giving me, I know better. I want to savour this moment. Another part of me, something deeper, older, is beating a drum against my ribs.

I’m on a precipice, and if I fall—when I fall—I know my life will splinter, dividing into two distinct eras. Before Lucien and after.

Lucien growls beneath me, wriggling his hips as much as he’s able. I grip his hips harder, and he groans, cock twitching even as I’m sure I’m leaving bruises in the shape of my fingerprints behind.

“I’ve got you,” I murmur. My cock breaches the first ring of muscle and I swallow a moan at the tight clutch of heat that surrounds me. Lucien lets out a surprised breath, but then urges me on, hooking his legs around my hips to try to pull me close.

I lean down again and grin as I slowly thrust further inside. “You’re so bossy,” I murmur and kiss Lucien when he laughs.

“I am just old enough to know what I want.”

I raise an eyebrow. “You think I don’t have any new tricks to show you?”

When Lucien smiles this time, he bares his fangs, and my hips jerk, forcing me further inside. We both groan, but his next smile is devilish, as though he knows just what has gone through my head.

“I think I have plenty to learn from you,” Lucien says. “But I do not think I have the patience for that right now.”

I kiss him again. “Hmm. Yeah, me neither.”

Lucien drops his head back onto the pillow as I thrust in again and again, going deeper on each pass. It’s not long before we’re both panting. Sweat rolls down my spine. I plant a steady hand next to his head, the other holding on to his hip tight.

I groan. He’s so hot and tight around me that it’s taking all my willpower not to hold him against the mattress and take what I want. I bite down the length of Lucien’s throat, shaking as he pushes up to meet my every thrust.

“Kieran,” Lucien gasps. “Harder, please!” He throws an arm up and pulls me closer. Our chests press together. I duck my head, taking some of the unmarked skin of Lucien’s throat between my teeth. He makes a desperate, broken sound.

“I’ve got you, baby,” I mutter. I start fucking Lucien slowly, deeply, and brace myself on my elbows before I lean down and steal a kiss.

He groans into it. His hands scrabble for purchase on my shoulders, and I hardly notice, holding him in place as I fill him over and over again.

“Kieran,” Lucien whines. My name on his lips makes my face heat. “Kieran, please, I am…”

“I’ve got you,” I say again. I curl my fingers around Lucien’s cock. He moans, head thrown back in pleasure, and I lick over the marks I’ve left on his exposed throat, something inside me settling at the sight of them.

“I-I am going to—”

“Yeah, that’s it.” I kiss down his jaw. My mouth almost aches with the desire to leave a deeper mark, but I can’t. “Come for me, Lucien. Show me how much you like it when I fuck you.”

“Love it,” Lucien manages. All the muscles in his neck strain, breath coming in desperate pants. “Kieran, I—Oh, fuck—”

He clutches at the sheets as he comes in thick spurts and I stroke him slowly through it, still touching until he whimpers and shifts his hips away.

I lean down and kiss the corner of Lucien’s mouth. He turns his head, catching my lips with his own. He clenched tightly around me when he came, and now my legs tremble with how close I am, too.

But if he’s too sensitive, then…

Lucien catches me by the back of the neck. “Move,” he orders, eyes flashing in the dim light, and I do.

We don’t break eye contact and I closely watch the play of expressions over Lucien’s face as I fuck him. It’s a lot, I can see that, but he keeps his legs wrapped tight around my hips, urging me to move faster, go deeper.

“I wish to feel you inside me,” Lucien murmurs, pushing up on his elbows until he breathes the words against my mouth, “For days.”

“Fuck,” I bite out. I kiss Lucien harshly, thrusting in harder. “You feel so… You’re fucking tight. Perfect.”

Lucien groans. He clenches, channel tightening around my cock, and that’s all I need. I come undone with a cry that sounds almost pained, and I thrust in deep as I spill into the condom, a little saddened that I haven’t filled Lucien with my scent from the inside out.

A few more jerks of my hips and I collapse on top of Lucien, who chuckles and wraps his arms around my middle.

“I’ll move,” I manage, the words muffled against his shoulder, but Lucien shakes his head and runs a hand down my spine.

“Do not,” he murmurs. “I like this.”

I kiss the unblemished skin beneath my lips and lift my head. Lucien’s eyes darken at the sight of me, and we kiss again, slower this time, presses of lips that make my chest tighten.

I can have this, can’t I? We can see where it goes. There’s no harm in that.

“You are thinking awfully hard considering what we have just done,” Lucien says.

I huff a laugh and kiss Lucien again, then press our foreheads together, breathing in the now-familiar scent of him. “Only good things,” I reply. “Promise.”

Lucien smiles at me. It lights up his eyes, making his rumpled, just-fucked expression even more irresistible. “If you say so,” he replies.

We clean up after that, and I fall asleep with Lucien’s head on my shoulder, one hand moving through his long, fair hair. When I wake, it is still dark, and Lucien kisses my shoulder gently before he sits.

A phone is ringing. I know it’s not mine, so I close my eyes again, though I know I won’t sleep again until Lucien is back in bed.

To my surprise, he returns quickly, the phone pressed to his ear. Moonlight falls through the partly open blinds, illuminating the lean lines of him as he climbs back into bed. I wrap my arms around his waist and press my lips to his ribs. He shivers.

“Yes, of course,” Lucien says softly. I could try to make out what the other person is saying, but I don’t want to. I’m more preoccupied with darting my tongue out to taste Lucien again, to scrape my teeth down to his hip.

Lucien’s hand tangles in my hair and he pulls my head back. My heart thuds heavily in my chest, and his gaze snaps to me as if worried he has hurt me somehow. Whatever he can see on my face makes him smile. I slide a hand up the inside of his thigh, and he bites his lower lip.

“Tomorrow? Yes, I think that is a good idea.” Lucien hums when the voice speaks again, and I stroke the soft skin near his hip. “Of course, crai. Good night.”

Lucien all but tosses his phone aside before he tugs on my hair, dragging me up until we’re face-to-face. I smile, completely unrepentant.

“I did not know you were this devious,” he says, and I gasp as if scandalised.

“Me? Never.”

Lucien huffs a laugh and kisses me. Our mouths slide together with more familiarity now, though that familiarity does nothing to stop the sparks moving over my skin. I suck his lower lip and he moans. My breath catches in my throat, but before I can pull him closer, he rolls us so he’s on top and pulls his mouth away to kiss down my jaw.

His lips linger on the scar on my throat, and I squeeze my eyes shut at the sudden onslaught of emotion. Will he ask about it? I think I might tell him the truth if he does, even though I’m sure I’m not ready to.

He doesn’t ask. His mouth moves lower, and when he sucks a mark on my collarbone, I cry out, arching my back.

When Lucien goes to move lower than that, I don’t let him. I drag him back up and reach between us, taking our cocks in one hand. I groan at the press of a hot shaft alongside my own and Lucien grabs my shoulders as I start stroking us.

“The things I wanna do to you,” I murmur.

Lucien stares down at me, eyes wide as he fucks into my grip. “Anything,” he chokes out. “Anything you want.”

I kiss him hard, stroking us both faster. We’re both slick with pre-cum and Lucien rolls his hips into my grip. I want more. I want everything.

“Kieran, I—”

“Whenever you’re ready, baby,” I say. I kiss Lucien again, panting harshly against his mouth. “Come all over me, Lucien. Make me yours.”

Lucien groans. His cock stiffens further in my grip and when he comes, it’s with the faintest of whimpers against my lips. I follow him over the edge, pleasure making my back arch, and then I drag Lucien in for another kiss, hungry in a way I shouldn’t be considering we’ve both just come.

Lucien leans back and I let go, wiping my hand on the sheets with a sheepish grin. Cum covers my stomach and chest, and Lucien runs his fingers through it, lifting them to his lips while never looking away from my face.

My mouth waters and every muscle in my body tenses. The things I want to do to this man… He studies my face and then kisses me hard, growling into it, one hand in my hair to hold me in place.

He wants me just as badly. So badly that his hands are trembling, and I flinch when I feel one of his fangs against my lip.

Lucien jerks back, covering his mouth with a hand. Red floods his face, and I don’t like it, not when I know it comes from embarrassment, from fear. “Sorry, I—”

I cover the hand he has over his mouth, and when he doesn’t fight me, I move it firmly aside.

“I know what you are,” I say, running my thumb over his lower lip. I know he’ll never bite me, not if I tell him I don’t want it. “And tonight has been… intense.”

Fuck, I want it.

But I can’t hurt him.

I shoot him a grin and his smile, though tremulous, returns. He eyes the mess on my skin again. “Let me just—”

He’s gone before he finishes the sentence and I hear the tap turn on in the en suite. I put one arm behind my head. This is still a minefield, and as much as I want to see where it goes, that’s something to consider. The ghost of something haunts Lucien in this place, and I’ve never revealed my past to anyone.

Can I do that? Can I trust him with that?

Lucien returns and cleans me gently, almost reverently. I take the flannel from his hands and toss it in the direction of the en suite when he’s finished, then catch him around the waist and bring him down onto the bed. He lets out a surprised yelp but doesn’t fight me, and we end up with me lying between his legs, my chin resting on his chest.

He runs his hands through my hair.

“What was the call about?” I ask. If he doesn’t want to tell me, that’s okay. I just want him thinking about something that isn’t whatever he’s beating himself up about.

“Vasile. Moreau has been in touch with him, and I am to meet with Alpha Deacon tomorrow night.”

A shiver goes through me at the mention of the alpha. I know better than to judge all wolves on a few bad examples—same as vampires—but it’s difficult. An alpha like that has plenty of power to abuse. I don’t like the idea of Lucien being close to him.

Lucien reads it from my face. He smiles, digging his fingers in at the base of my skull, and I let out a helpless little moan, melting against him. “I will be fine,” he says. “We have worked with his beta, Chaya, many times in the past. Vasile knows where I am going and when, and Elle will be with me.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes. I will be perfectly safe.”

I hum. Still…

Lucien’s smile softens. “There is something I never told you,” he says. He runs his hand through my hair again and I nuzzle my face against his chest, feeling my eyes get heavy.

“What is it?” I murmur. The words come out almost slurred.

“I said if we ever met again, I would tell you how old I am.”

I blink my eyes open. “Yeah? How old?”

He huffs a laugh. My eyes fall closed again.

“Oh, mon doux, I will tell you tomorrow.”