Chapter

Nineteen

CLAY

“ C ’mon babe,” I say, throwing an arm over his shoulders and steering Owen toward his dorm room. I do my best to refrain from inhaling his sweet vanilla-nutmeg scent, but I fail. “If we don’t get a move on, we’ll miss the group.”

“Right.” With a last glance around, where he grabs his phone and keys—I can learn a lot from Owen—he picks up his overnight bag, and we take off, holding hands.

I’ve already stashed my duffle in my car, so before we get to the stairs, I make Owen pass over his bag, which he does with little protest. I like to spoil my guy.

Owen and I walk across campus to the parking lot.

It’s a warm and sunny late spring day, with the trees leafed out in that vibrant yellow-green they get in Pennsylvania.

The zombies have planted flower boxes and hung flowering baskets on some of the light posts, so the whole school looks really pretty and smells very bright and floral.

While of course the nature spirits—water spirits, tree folk, fae—are out in full force enjoying the sunshine, other monsters won’t be outdone.

At least five werewolves are in a circle in the quad playing Cards Against Monsterkind, and a phoenix zooms past us overhead.

Plenty of humans mill about too, talking with friends and scrolling on their phones.

Owen tilts up his head to watch the phoenix. Funny how flying used to be such a hurdle for me. He gives me a shy smile. “Thanks for inviting me along.”

I roll my eyes. “Of course I’m inviting you along. You’re my boyfriend.”

And I’m in love with you. I want to spend every moment of every day with you. I want you to be my partner in life. I don’t want to do anything without you.

I can’t say any of that out loud, though. Can I?

We get in my car and drive through the school gates, past the gargoyles. I wave at the one who’s alive. He gives me an up-nod with his chin.

I spend most of the drive to Stokerbram Park lost in my thoughts. How can I tell Owen my feelings? Should I just do it? Blurting things out is often the way I end up going through life, but with him … I wish it could be more romantic.

I’m pretty sure he cares about me, but love? I’m not sure about that.

We arrive at the park and join a group of vampires gathered at the trailhead.

“Hey,” I say, waving like a dork.

“Clay! Good to see you!” Shannon says, coming over to give me a hug. I return it lightly, but I swear I hear Owen growl. So I kiss his cheek, and his shoulders relax. “And you brought your feeder,” she continues, sweeping out a hand to indicate Owen.

“We’re actually just boyfriends,” I correct, taking Owen’s hand. “The status of us feeding is personal, if you don’t mind.”

Shannon raises both eyebrows. “I, uh, apologize. You’re right.”

“All good,” I say .

The thrill, the anticipation of going gliding fills me. While before, it brought on nothing but dread, now it’s just…fun.

“Where’s a good place to watch you?” Owen asks, swiveling his head around. “Maybe I could go up to one of the lookout points?—”

“Do you want to go flying with me?” I blurt.

“Wha-what?” Owen stutters. “Like, in the air?”

I smirk. “Yes. I generally fly in the air. You taught me, you should know that.”

He slugs my shoulder gently and looks down at his body. “But aren’t I too heavy?”

“Monster strength.” I point at my biceps. “It’ll be fun. Come on.”

“That’s so cute you take your boyfriend with you,” Shannon says. “If only Raymond would do something that romantic.”

Awesome. I’m being romantic.

Ray walks over. “I’m not romantic?”

“I mean,” Shannon says, putting a hand on her hip, “you could be more romantic.”

Ray raises an eyebrow. “I’ll show you romantic . Just you wait.” He puts an arm around her waist and walks away with her.

I turn back to Owen. “You don’t have to go with me, but I wanted to show you how far I’ve progressed.”

While he’s pursing his lips and seeming a little wary, it doesn’t take long before he smiles. “I trust you. Okay, you can carry me. And you’re right. Remember when you first started out? How hard it was?”

“I’m always hard for you,” I mumble into his ear as I tug him closer by his waist.

“Haha. I know.”

“But yeah,” I say, my tone changing to serious. “I know. Thanks for helping me figure out how to fly. I don’t think I would’ve ever gotten the nerve to try without your support.”

“Ready?” Shannon calls. And she lunges into the air, catching a breeze easily.

I pick Owen up, and while I want to carry him like a bride, I think he may kill me if I do that. So instead, I just sort of hold him at my side, my arm slung under his armpits, as I press him to me.

He looks terrified: eyes blown wide open, body frozen, lips parted.

“I got you,” I murmur, and he nods, clenching my waist with his legs.

Taking everything I’ve learned into account, I sense the shift in my body to go into flight mode.

Ready .

I bend my legs and spring up.

Immediately, I find a gust of air, and we’re soaring up over the trees.

Together.

“You okay?” I ask Owen, as his dark curls tangle around his face.

“Yeah,” he says, his voice an octave higher than usual.

So I hold him tighter as we fly past the waterfall and over down into the gorge. We zoom by some rock outcroppings.

I glance around, surveying the pretty, wooded scenery.

Let’s go to the river.

Owen relaxes in my arms, and while I’m not loosening my hold on him by any means, at least he doesn’t have a death grip on me.

I whip us between the trees, gliding down to almost touch the river, and get sprayed by the mist from the whitewater rapids. Then we sail up on a gust of wind past the tops of the trees .

“Holy shit! This is fun!” Owen crows, his eyes alight behind his glasses and his mouth in a wide grin.

I ride a thermal up into a spiral, and as I do, I kiss him. We’re soaring midair, and nothing could be better than holding my boyfriend in my arms and feeling his warmth next to me as he trusts me.

Our lips meet, our tongues touch, and our kiss is searing.

He opens his mouth to say something, but I need to pay attention. He seems to get the message fast, and I take us to a rocky ledge at the side of the waterfall, where we land softly.

“Wow, that was such a rush!” Owen says, breathless.

“Right? It’s almost as good as sex.”

Almost as good as feeding on someone during sex.

Owen leans in to kiss me again, and it’s a slow, leisurely kiss. Deep and warm and soft. My hands grip his hips, then slide down to palm his ass.

He moans into me, his glasses fogging up.

That moan does something to my restraint. Now I’m kissing him hard, our tongues battling for dominance, my dick getting hard and pressing into the front of his jeans, where I can tell he’s hardening too.

“Monster god, Clay, I want you.”

“Out here?” I mumble against his lips.

“Yes, here.”

I take a step back and survey where we are. Mist from the waterfall sprays us, and the breeze ruffles the pine trees, but otherwise, it’s quiet. My monster senses aren’t picking up on any vampires close by. Maybe they all went in the other direction.

“Okay,” I whisper and move us so he’s facing the waterfall. I come up behind him and lick along his neck. The soft skin behind his ears is particularly arousing.

I rub my cock against his round, firm ass. My arms wrap around his waist like steel bands, holding him to me. My hand slides down his body to stroke his cock, which is hard against his zipper.

With a flick, I unbutton his jeans and reach into his underwear to grip his hot, velvety length. The tip is leaking, and I use the precum to stroke him a few times.

“I want you to feed off of me,” Owen blurts, pressing his ass into me.

My fangs descend. Every nerve ending in my body goes on alert. A powerful sense of want courses through me.

I’ve been tamping down the siren call of Owen’s hot blood the entire time we’ve been together. He makes me so thirsty in so many ways.

But…it’s inherently dangerous for me to feed from my boyfriend. I’d be sucking his blood, his life force, and they told us in anatomy class that humans need blood to function. Okay, I already knew that.

What would happen if I drank too much? If I couldn’t stop?

What if I got lost in the moment and didn’t realize that I was taking too much from him? What if I took too much from my lover because feeding from him is all about me? Although humans can also get off on it too, so maybe that’s not totally true.

I open my mouth to argue, but Owen twists around and puts a finger over my lips. “I know the risks. But I trust you.”

I should argue with him more. That’d be the right thing to do.

But I also know that I care about this man so much that there’s no way that I would let myself hurt him.

Which means…oh, monster god. Which means that this is going to be hot.

“Okay,” I whisper. “Just stop me if you don’t want to do it anymore. ”

“Deal.”

The waterfall pounds right next to us as I kiss his lips and shove Owen’s pants down to mid-thigh, then spin him around so his back’s to my front. Then I quickly undo my pants, releasing my hard cock.

I spit on my hand and use it and his precum to pump his dick while I slot my cock between his legs.

Intercrural sex is awesome.

Owen wiggles under me, clearly trying to get me to bite him, as he pushes his neck toward my mouth.

Pushing his shirt to the side, I trace a path with my tongue from his ear to his shoulder, then murmur, “You ready?”

“Yes. Do it.”

“You need something to brace against.” Using my monster speed, I yank off my shirt and put it between him and a smooth rock, so he has a padded surface to lean against. “That’s better.”

He reaches over his shoulder. “Clay. Do. It.”

With a delicious inhale, I puncture his skin and sink my fangs into his neck.

Immediately, my mouth floods with his copper-tinged blood.

Oh, monster fucking heaven.

In the world of out-of-body experiences, there’s the release from orgasm, and then there’s this: a delirium I’ve never felt before, because I’ve never fed on anyone I’ve had feelings for—at least not feelings like this.

His hot blood pumps into my mouth, filling me with his life force, his essence, and I’m enraptured by it.

But not so enraptured that I forget to get him off.

I stroke his cock faster, focusing on the tip, doing a little twist at the end, and I thrust between his legs, my movements artless as I continue to feed on his delicious blood.

I’m about to fall to my knees in front of him when Owen starts coming, and his orgasm triggers a change in his blood. His hot cum spills all over my hand.

I feel him coming—as if I’m the one having his orgasm, not him—as I suck his blood, and with a hiss, I pull back from him, needing to not take too much.

I’m about to come myself when Owen drops to his knees and takes my cock in his mouth. It doesn’t take me many thrusts before I’m releasing—the rush as strong as this waterfall swollen with snowmelt.

I’ve never felt more sated.

It takes both of us a moment to come down from our highs, and then I go over to a small pool of water and wash my hands, cleaning up as best as I can and helping Owen do the same.

“Shit,” I whisper, looking at the bruised skin on his neck. “I hurt you.”

“You did not. I loved it.”

I kiss his neck with my mouth open, so the healing nature of my saliva will speed along his healing. And also so it doesn’t look like he’s in high school with a big hickey.

“Feeling a little better?” I ask.

“Yeah.” His voice is husky.

We adjust our clothes back to normal, then sit on the rock outcropping, our legs dangling over the side. The entire gorge spreads out before us, and in the far distance, I can make out other members of the gliding group catching thermals.

Owen snuggles against me, and I wrap an arm around his shoulders. He rests his head on my torso.

My heartbeat starts going a mile a minute.

Better just do it.

“Owen, I have to tell you something.”

“What is it?”

“I’ve been young for a long time, and I’m going to be alive for quite some time still. But being immortal means nothing without you. I didn’t start living until you found me. I’m really, really in love with you.”

He sucks in a sharp breath and pushes up his glasses, looking up at me. “Yeah?”

“Absolutely.”

Owen gives me a devastating smile. “It’s a good thing, since I’m in love with you, too.”