Page 9 of Bound in Blood (Vampires of Boston #1)

Chapter

Six

MATEO

M ateo never understood the sentiment of parents wanting their kids to struggle the way they had as children.

The age-old ‘when I was your age, I had to walk to school uphill both ways in the snow’ never sat right with him.

Shouldn’t elders always want the best for their kids?

Surely, they’d understand that if their kids had it easier, that meant society was getting better.

He’d always promised himself that if he were ever caring for a child, he’d make sure they never had to struggle as he did.

Looking at Logan now made him want to throw all that out the window.

Sure, he thought, this was the best case scenario. Logan never goes feral, which means nobody innocent dies, Logan never has to live with the guilt of taking a life, and he can transition seamlessly into his new immortal existence with minimal complications.

But there’s just something about watching a brand new vampire try to bite down on a blood bag with blunt teeth that sends a surge of anger through him.

Where was the desperation? The hunger? When Mateo had woken up a born-again vampire in some back alley in Italy, the first thing he had done was rip the throat out of the first human that walked past him.

Now, his new mate (when would he get used to thinking that?) couldn’t even figure out how to drop his fangs.

Something that was supposed to be instinct.

Something so ingrained in his system that it was almost as easy as breathing.

He watched as Logan fumbled with the bag again, trying a new angle, turning it in his hands like it was some complicated puzzle and not something he needed to stay alive.

Mateo wanted to shake him.

He clenched his jaw, eyes shifting to his brother for support, but receiving none.

Of course, Marco would be more patient than him.

It was Marco’s fault! They were just supposed to lure the little human home, make him feel good, take a little blood, and disappear.

Now, they had a mate to take care of. A mate that’ll probably never let them near his dick again, considering how things went the last time.

Logan huffed a frustrated sound as he tried—and failed—to do whatever Marco was trying to get him to do with the bag.

Mateo rolled his eyes. His poor, naive mate.

He’d never make it in the wild. Mateo was going to have to bring him blood bags for all eternity.

It was like he’d accidentally adopted a new pet.

“No, it’s okay. I’ll get it. I just need to try harder,” Logan said, looking up at a frowning Marco.

Trying to appease the man who put him in the situation in the first place.

Was this a newly made creature of the night or a duckling that had accidentally imprinted on them?

The guilt hit Mateo like a freight train.

Logan hadn’t asked for this, after all. He didn’t know vampires existed until an hour or two ago. When he invited Mateo and Marco back to his home, he expected to hook up with them for a few hours, not for life.

And he’d been so patient. No crying or screaming or begging for his humanity back when he found out what they’d done.

He didn’t blame them or lash out, just accepted his new situation for what it was.

His entire life had been turned upside down by Mateo and Marco, and here Mateo was, wanting to shake the life out of him for struggling.

Of course he was struggling. When you live your entire existence as a human, having to cope with a new lifestyle and diet and rules is not easy.

Newborn vampires are feral because if you tear the throat from a human the first time you feed, it’ll be a lot easier to keep feeding when you need it.

It forces you to get over the wrongness that your brain feels.

It seems disgusting and barbaric, and it is, but it works.

For everyone but the tiny fledgling fate bound Mateo to, it seemed. He wasn’t even sure this was a product of the soul-bond. Logan was probably just like this.

“Hey,” Mateo said, stepping toward Logan, lowering his voice. “It’s okay.”

Logan frowned, looking up at him with a sour expression. “It doesn’t feel okay. You’ve been over there annoyed with me this entire time.”

Mateo almost smiled, because fuck—Logan was so adorable with that indignant expression on his face. It was all so endearing. No more frustration, Mateo wanted to bite that pouty lower lip. God, his fangs threatened to drop just thinking about it.

Hold on.

“I have an idea, but if you don’t like it, we can keep trying Marco’s way,” Mateo offered.

Logan’s eyes widened, and for a moment, Mateo cursed their little bond. Of course Logan could feel the excitement Mateo was feeling.

“I don’t like that look,” Logan said, voice edged with suspicion. He lowered the blood bag, though, ready to hear Mateo out.

“Just give me a chance. You trust me, yeah? I’m not the one who did this to you.” He flashed a look at Marco, who glared at him, betrayed. “I never even tasted your blood.”

Disappointment washed through the bond between Logan and Mateo. Logan was… disappointed? That Mateo had never tasted him? Interesting.

“I—” Logan started, then stopped, his mouth opening and shutting a couple of times like a fish as he tried to find his words.

His brows furrowed, fingers flexing around the blood bag like he wasn’t sure if he wanted to throw it or drink from it.

Mateo could feel his apprehension, and he would be lying if he said it didn’t sting a little.

“Logan, I promise, I’m only trying to help.” Mateo softened his voice.

His mate exhaled, shoulders dropping slightly in resignation. “Fine. What’s your idea?”

Mateo smirked. “Bite me.”

Marco groaned, rubbing a hand down his face. “ Mateo .”

Logan blinked, a blush forming over his cheeks. “W-What?”

“Bite me,” Mateo repeated. “While my blood won’t provide you with any nutritional value, as I’m not human, your shiny new instincts are hard-wired to lean on me and my dear brother for a lot of things.

Between vampires, biting each other is typically reserved for the throes of passion.

Let me… work you up a little bit, and see if we can draw out those pretty new teeth. ”

Logan’s throat bobbed, his hesitation wavering. Mateo could feel the sharp spike of lust that shot up Logan’s spine as if it had happened to his own body. Logan’s pupils dilated, just a little more than a human’s were capable of, just on the brink of?—

Bingo .

“Mateo,” Marco warned, “That’s not?—”

“I’ll do it,” Logan cut him off, lips parted slightly in delicious want . “What’s the worst that could happen?”

“The absolute worst? Marco gets a little sad and wants you to bite him, too,” Mateo purred. “A fitting punishment for turning you against your will, I’d say.”

Logan made a strangled sound in the back of his throat, his blush deepening. God, he was so cute. If Mateo really had to get stuck with one guy for his immortal existence, he was glad the guy was this adorable.

“Okay. How do we do it? Do I just…?” Logan snapped his teeth, and Mateo thought briefly that he looked like a kitten.

“No, gattino ? * , there’s no fun in that.” Mateo gently pried the blood bag out of Logan’s hand, giving it to Marco before yanking Logan down onto the couch, straddling Mateo’s lap.

Logan gasped, but his pupils swallowed up a little more of the emerald color of his eyes, and Mateo knew he was so close to exactly where he needed to be.

Lust radiated through the bond between the two of them, and for a split second, Mateo forgot the objective.

The cute former-human was in his lap and hungry, and Mateo wanted to give him everything .

But there would be time for that later.

Logan swallowed hard, his fingers twitching where they had landed on Mateo’s shoulders, not knowing what to do.

His chest rose and fell with each heavy breath, though he relaxed as Mateo skimmed his hands down his mate’s sides.

Logan wanted this. Mateo could feel it through the bond, sure, but it was written all over his face.

“Relax. We’re not going to do anything you don’t want to,” Mateo purred, leaning in to nip at Logan’s ear. He delighted in the full body shudder Logan responded with, before he tightened his thighs ever so slightly around Mateo’s lap. Just a bit more pushing was all he needed.

Mateo made eye contact with Marco, who was watching Logan with a heated gaze, lips slightly parted.

Their mate did look incredibly enticing with his face all flushed, in his half-feral state.

Mateo had barely even touched Logan yet.

He wondered briefly if Logan’s memories of the night before were coming back to the surface.

If only Marco hadn’t bitten him so soon…

“May I kiss you, tesoro? ” Mateo asked, voice dropping barely below a whisper. He feared, when Logan hesitated, that he might have asked for too much, but when Logan gave the tiniest of nods, Mateo was done for.

He slid his hand up Logan’s torso, cupping the back of his neck gently before pulling him in. He was much gentler than the night before, focusing more on passion than lust. He wasn’t trying to undress him, just… excite him—a little.

It took very little time before he felt Logan’s tongue teasing at his lips, his body pulling more flush to Mateo’s.

He deepened the kiss, his hand on Logan’s waist tightening, before he felt Logan’s hips buck against him.

Once, twice, then Mateo pulled back abruptly, severing their kiss with a quiet pop.

Logan glared back at Mateo, his eyes completely black, expression monstrous. He growled, long and low in his throat, a warning. Mateo grinned, motioning for Marco to come closer with the blood bag. Logan was already cute, but in this state, he was the most beautiful man Mateo had ever laid eyes on.

Mateo gently guided the angry Logan’s mouth to the vein on his neck, where this time, he had absolutely no trouble dropping his fangs before sinking his teeth into the flesh.

Mateo let the sensation wash over him, trying his best to stifle the moan building in his throat.

God, that felt good. Had it always felt this good to be bitten?

Marco cleared his throat, snapping Mateo out of the temporary bliss.

Right, Logan wouldn’t be able to get anything he actually needed from Mateo’s blood.

As gently as he could, he pried Logan from his neck.

The little fledgling snapped his teeth, snarling at the loss, but when Marco put the blood bag under his nose, he was quickly sated.

He drained it quickly as Marco grabbed two more from the fridge, before draining both of those as well.

When the third bag was sufficiently bone-dry, Logan slumped forward onto Mateo’s chest, looking dazed but undeniably sated.

His lips were stained dark red, and true to vampire fashion, a single drop of blood rolled down his chin.

Mateo swiped his thumb over it before sliding the digit into Logan’s mouth.

Wouldn’t want him to waste anything. Logan’s eyes were half lidded in satisfaction, but quickly settled back into that pretty green that Mateo loved again.

Marco collapsed beside his brother, his hand instinctively running through Logan’s curly hair as they let him rest. “Three pints,” he said, the corners of his mouth twitching up, “Hungrier than we thought.”

Mateo chuckled, still recovering a little from Logan’s bite.

He stretched his neck, the dull throb still pulsing through him.

It was healing, but Mateo wasn’t sure he wanted to part with it.

He’d picked up some werewolf books in his lifetime, and though he wasn’t sure if they were real, he was led to believe that a bite mark from their mate was a permanent addition to their body. If only…

“Holy shit,” Logan groaned, though he didn’t move from his position curled up on Mateo’s lap, “That was crazy. I feel like I need to take a ten-year nap.”

“You overindulged a bit,” Marco explained gently. “It’s the same as a human eating too much. You’ll feel better after a little rest.” Mateo watched as his fingers curled a bit in Logan’s hair, going over his scalp with blunt fingertips. Logan was practically purring.

“Would you like me to put you back in your bed, tesoro?” Mateo asked, praying Logan would tell him no.

“Hate that bed,” Logan mumbled against Mateo’s chest. “Hurts my back. I’ll stay here.”

“Wait till you start having to sleep in coffins,” Marco teased, exchanging a smirk with Mateo.

“You’re not funny. Keep petting my hair,” Logan murmured, eyes fully closed now. Marco said nothing, resuming the slow circles on Logan’s scalp. Mateo settled a little further into the couch, feeling a sense of rightness as Logan drifted to sleep.

Their mate.

What a fucking concept.

Mateo let his head tip back on the couch, his hand moving up and down Logan’s back in a soothing pattern.

Sure, things weren’t perfect. Not yet, anyway.

But they would be. Mateo would make sure of it.

Already, he felt so protective of the fledgling.

He was warm and safe in Mateo’s arms, and the most primal part of Mateo was sated.

He was on the verge of feeling something new, something he wasn’t sure he had a name for, because he wasn’t sure he’d ever felt it before.

Whatever it was, though, Mateo would fight tooth and nail to keep it. Of that, he was certain.

* ? Kitten. This one was kinda cringe to write, but oh well