Chapter 20

A dler was good on his own. He was also good at serial monogamy, short stints here and there where his work allowed. He had not ever thought that he would find a person he’d want to spend more time with, a real mate.

Truthfully, he couldn’t even say that he’d thought of Gordon in that way so far. All he’d thought about when it came to Gordon was that the vampire looked delicious, that he smelled so good Adler wanted to rub against him constantly, that kissing him, oh, kissing him was better than some of the sex Adler had had with other people.

It was thinking about other people while he was in Gordon’s bed with Gordon spread out in the most delicious of ways that pushed Adler to the realization that he possibly had come to the point where he considered Gordon his mate.

That certainly explains the ridiculous bouts of jealousy , Adler thought. Older werewolf traditions liked to emphasize the claiming of a mate, the blood drawing, some of it even public. Adler had no taste for that at all. And I’d never subject him to that kind of backwards shit. He deserves better, and I’ll make sure he gets better. The best.

All Adler wanted—all his wolf wanted—was Gordon, and watching the pretty vampire turn around under him, his skin still slick, that was the kind of thing Adler was afraid he would daydream about for weeks and weeks to come.

Gordon was slimmer than Adler, had the kind of lean runner’s physique vampires sometimes developed. Adler opened the bottle of strawberry lube and slicked his hands, then slid down to sit on Gordon’s thighs.

I was right, he looks much better with his pants off, Adler thought as he began to stroke Gordon’s hole.

The vampire shuddered, moaned, looked back at Adler over his shoulder. A strand of newly teal-colored hair brushed against his cheek. Adler started growling, he just couldn’t help it.

“Well, detective, what are you—mmhhnn.”

Adler was satisfied to find his fingers inside Gordon were enough to shut the vampire up, make him bury his face in the pillows and clench the sheets in his fists.

Heavens, tying him up would be lovely. He dipped another finger into Gordon, stretched that sweet tightness, and bent forward so he could feel the vampire arch up his spine.

“Watching you read earlier at that bar, it was nice,” Adler whispered in Gordon’s ear. “But watching you enjoy yourself like this, stretching yourself on my fingers, that’s better. I think I will make a habit out of it, sweetheart.”

Gordon grinned. “Make a habit of keeping me from a good night’s sleep?”

“You’ll sleep like the dead when I’m done with you.”

“The dead don’t sleep,” Gordon mumbled.

Adler curled his middle finger. “Maybe, but you’ll be tired out all right, sweetheart. Do you want me to put on a condom, or is messy okay?”

Gordon didn’t answer, mostly because Adler had hit just the right spot there, and reasoning skills went offline. He was tempted to repeat that torture that had Gordon clench his ass, but he needed an answer before Gordon got too lost in lust.

“I don’t even have—neither of us can pass on STIs to the other. It’s fine. I want you inside.”

With his free hand, Adler stroked Gordon’s spine. “Messy it is.”

Adler pulled his fingers free and reached for the lube once more, slicked himself. He paused a moment, taking in the sight of Gordon beneath him.

The vampire wanted him, and that was… It meant the world, in this moment, in this bubble that was theirs for as long as the night lasted. Gordon was everything, and Adler was filled with the need to make the vampire feel that in every fiber of his body.

With anticipation heavy in the air, Adler lined up and slowly pushed into Gordon. The tightness was perfect, Gordon surrendering himself at the exact speed Adler pushed into him while tension remained high for both. Adler felt himself being pulled to the edge as the distance between them closed.

As if it were the most decadent dessert, Adler savored Gordon’s every moan and whimper, savored those looks Gordon cast over his shoulder, the blue of his eyes hidden by blown pupils. He’s mine, all mine, Adler thought. The words echoed to the part of him that was wolf and pack, protector of everything Adler loved and held dear. Mine.

Adler was sweating when he was finally fully inside Gordon, and Gordon’s back, too, shimmered with dampness. Gordon had grabbed the sheets tightly in his hands at some point.

Adler reached out, untangled the vampire’s left hand, and wove his own fingers between Gordon’s long and elegant ones. There was something very right about how Gordon’s light skin made Adler’s darker hue stand out and vice versa. Gordon tightened his grip when Adler slowly pulled his hips back, moaned the moment he thrust them forward, thrust deep.

“You like that, sweetheart?”

Gordon looked back at him. “Yeah.”

Adler did it again, first pulling out excruciatingly slowly, then ramming deeply into Gordon. And again.

“I like it too. You feel really good. And you’re really good, taking me like you are.”

Gordon just whimpered, incoherent, leg muscles shuddering.

“Maybe I’ll fuck you slowly right now? Let’s see how you take that, hmm?”

Adler went to a steadier pace, honestly more out of self-interest. He wasn’t going to last as long as he wanted, he could tell. He didn’t mind, but cumming meant giving up this intimacy, and he wanted it to last for as long as possible.

“Gods, your ass is divine, Gordon. Anyone ever told you how pretty you are, taking cock and moaning into the sheets?”

“Your mouth…”

Adler chuckled. “Maybe your mouth. Next time.”

Adler began nipping Gordon’s neck. The wolfish desire to bite down hard was there, but Adler wouldn’t before Gordon told him it was okay. The vampire’s eyes slowly glazed over, pupils eclipsing the sapphire irises, and the way his skin flushed filled Adler with pride, because he had put that color there, not an easy feat with a vampire.

Adler sped up, greedy for every thrust he could manage, for every second he and Gordon connected like that. When he came, inevitable like death or gravity, it was a deep thing, something that started in his bones and worked up and outward through muscle and sinew, made his skin shudder and his toes and fingers curl.

Adler screamed. The only way he couldn’t have would have been by marking Gordon with his bite. He screamed, and then he shuddered, pulsed all his need into Gordon, lowered himself without pulling out of the vampire to suck up the sweet scent of their combined lovemaking. Adler licked the back of Gordon’s neck in long strokes, kissed the vampire when he turned his head toward Adler.

When he pulled out of Gordon and rolled off of him to lie next to him, Adler almost hated the distance between their bodies, yet at the same time, he could pull Gordon close, wrap him in his arms. This was especially easy because as it turned out, Gordon had come again and was as a result warm and spent and perfectly pliable.

Adler discovered that he enjoyed cradling his lover to his chest, brushing his hair with his fingers, breathing soft kisses onto his cheeks and hands.

“You didn’t make me faint,” Gordon said after many long minutes, his head a pleasant weight on Adler’s chest. “But I don’t think I want to leave this bed anytime soon.”

“Good news,” Adler said, a finger trailing down Gordon’s arm. “Means I don’t have to cuff you to it.”

Gordon chuckled. A little while later, his breathing slowed to the uncanny shallowness of vampire sleep. The smile of a successful predator stretched Adler’s lips.

His low breathing will take some time getting used to though, he thought before he drifted off himself.