Page 43 of Inhuman Nature

“Shaun trusted me with his submission. He wouldn’t do anything to harm me.”

Shaun’s head swung between them both. He looked ready to bolt.

DJ swallowed and held his arm out alongside Rake’s. “If you need more, use me as well.”

Shaun shook his head. “You don’t have to—”

“I know,” DJ interrupted. “I want to.”

Shaun’s fangs peeked out from under his top lip. His eyes were almost fully black. He no longer looked like the vulnerable sub DJ had first seen at the club—this was the predator that lay beneath his human skin.

However, DJ wasn’t afraid. Despite his inhuman nature,Shaun was still Shaun.

“Do it, sweetheart,” Rake commanded.

Shaun dived for Rake’s wrist, gathering it up and biting into his flesh with such fervour that DJ feared he might choke. Rake took a deep inhale of breath. Getting bitten by those sharp fangs should hurt, but Rake’s expression didn’t look pained. DJ would know, because Rake was a bona fide wuss with pain. He could dish it out, but he couldn’t stomach so much as a paper cut.

Rake’s mouth fell open, not quite slack, but as if he no longer had full control of it. His eyes lay on Shaun, but were somewhat unfocused. DJ squeezed Rake’s free hand, and Rake took a second to squeeze back.

Shaun’s head lifted, mouth still fastened over Rake’s wrist. His eyes caught Rake’s and held, the two staring intently at one another. Something passed between them, something that DJ couldn’t read. Shaun then jerked his head away, teeth stained pink. He lapped at Rake’s wrist, small kitten-like licks that were incongruous alongside the blood that dripped from the side of his mouth.

DJ’s arm still rested on Rake’s knee where he sat on the sofa. Shaun homed in on the proffered limb, and DJ couldn’t have stopped Shaun from biting him if he’d tried.

Therewaspain. It was the sting of a needle, the prick of a splinter, the scratch of a nail. And then it was gone, replaced with a gentle pressure. DJ closed his eyes and sank into the sensation. It wasn’t too far off the feeling of being in subspace; that floaty, warm detachedness from reality that centred him like nothing else did.

When Shaun pulled off, DJ blinked to clear the fog. Shauncleaned him like he had Rake, his tongue darting out over DJ’s skin. Licking had never been so erotic.

DJ laughed as something occurred to him. “Bloodplay as your hard limit, huh?” he said, speech coming slower than intended.

Shaun stared uncomprehendingly at DJ until his face lit up with recollection. He huffed, shaking his head.

“Given the current situation, I would like to reconsider that limit,” Rake said. He looked at Shaun likehewas the one who wanted to eat him. DJ glanced at Rake’s tented crotch. Good to know they were both affected in the same way.

“I’d be open to that,” Shaun said in a breathy voice.

DJ’s phone started blaring on the table. Shaun shot backwards away from the noise at a preternatural speed, ending up crouched on the arm of a recliner they’d appropriated from DJ’s parents. DJ fumbled to turn his alarm off. “We’ve got work,” he said.

“I kinda forgot that it’s”—Rake looked at the phone in DJ’s hand—“seven in the morning.”

DJ expelled a loud groan. “I don’t wanna go to work.” He pouted at Rake, hoping he would suggest that they call in sick.

“You guys should go to work,” Shaun said from the recliner. He now sat in it like normal, and not like a startled cat.

“Or”—DJ drew the word out for so long that Rake poked him in the side to hurry him up—“we could stay home.”

“Go,” Shaun said. “I won’t be able to stay awake much longer, anyway.”

“You fall asleep when the sun comes up?” DJ asked.

“Yeah. I think I’m only still awake right now because ofthe whole Lawrence-trying-to-kill-me thing. My instincts are keeping me up, but not for much longer now that I’m no longer in immediate danger.”

“Do you think he’ll try to get to you again?” Rake asked.

Shaun’s eyes were downcast. “He might track me here, yes. If I’d had any other choice, I wouldn’t have come to you, but the sun was coming up. It’ll still be light out when you finish work, so you shouldn’t have to worry about him coming after you. The second it gets dark, though…”

“You did the right thing,” Rake said.

“I’m so glad you came here,” DJ agreed. He made to stand up, but a wave of dizziness hit him and he slumped back down onto the sofa.