Page 171 of Vampire Kings Box Set

Gideon’s hand wrapped around Madis’ cock, squeezing and stroking, emulating the actions of his cock inside Madis. For every thrust, there was a stroke. And for every stroke, Madis was taken closer to the verge of a raging climax.

Sex as a human had been amazing, but this first sex as a vampire was all consuming. He did not feel like a man anymore. He felt like an animal, a wild beast rutting. Every bit of pleasure came with a side of sordid humiliation. To be the one who was taken was to be the one who was broken, the one who lost his manhood and gave it up to another. Aris would have been castrated as part of his torture if he had been left to live, but Madis had not been punished that way by his people. They wanted him dead, but they appreciated he was the dominant partner. Maddox knew he would never be the dominant partner when it came to Gideon. Gideon was maker, and master. He was everything.

Gideon’s hips became a blur of motion, his fucking rough, intense, and fast. Madis’ cock swelled and surged against his maker’s hand, and there was no holding back anymore, no thinking anymore. There was only submission, to Gideon, and to pleasure. He felt himself flood with the seed of the dark one, Gideon’s essence not only animating him, but now entering him.

“Oh, you are such a good boy,” Gideon purred in the aftermath of their coupling. “You are beautiful. Your hunger is intense. Your passion is incredible. And your lust for death and life are equally potent. You will make a perfect companion for me, Madis. But if you ever do what you have done tonight again…”

Back to modernity…

“Do you remember what I did to you after the village massacre, my boy?”

Maddox would have blushed if such a thing were possible. He remembered losing his vampiric virginity very clearly. He remembered how it was to lie on his back, looking up at the stars, and feeling the embodiment of all earthly evil surging inside him.

“We have not mated in a long time,” Gideon growled. “Should I bend you over for me, Maddox? Should I remind you what your ass is for?”

Maddox bristled, and gave Gideon what must have been a spectacularly disrespectful look.

Gideon had him by the back of the head before he could stop himself. He slammed him onto the floor.

“Should I tear this suit off you and make you scream for me, boy?”

“No,” Maddox growled.

“Then I ask you again, what did I do after your massacre?”

“You forgave me.”

“With a caveat. If you were ever so reckless again, I would imprison you for a thousand years. Do you remember that?”

“Yes. I remember.”

“It still stands.” Gideon’s eyes were hard as he let Maddox up, mercifully. “The infatuation you have for this pup is of a similar nature to that of your first love. It is obsessive, and it is dangerous for us all. You will break yourself of it, or I will break you of it.”

Maddox cut his eyes at Gideon. It had been a long time since he was threatened. And an even longer time since Gideon put hands on him. He had been, for the most part, a grateful and obedient fledgling. There had not been a great need for discipline. The idea of challenging Gideon directly was unthinkable, or it had been, until Will’s life came in play.

“I have sent Will away,” he repeated. “What else do you want?”

Gideon took a step forward and levered Maddox’s head up with two fingers beneath his chin. “I command you to stop loving him.”

“That is not how love works.”

“Of course it is. Love is a choice, always, or it is nothing at all.”

Maddox did not reply. That did not matter, for Gideon was not done speaking.

“You love to cast me in the mold of monster,” he said. “But you are the real monster, Madis. Sometimes I think your darkness is greater than my own, though I know that cannot be true. It was your pain that drew me to you across those dying sands, but it was your fury, your refusal to die that made me want you for my own. You had been suffering for days upon days. Your torturers were feeding you out of curiosity, pushing you past the bounds of any they had killed before. Your continued existence was beginning to quietly terrify the town. They’d wanted to punish you for your sins. But in punishing you, they created something they themselves feared. You, languishing, horribly wounded, mortally destroyed, and yet still breathing. You were their nightmare long before you slew them. You haunted their consciences. You became the thing whispered in the night. You are capable of great things, Madis. Or terrible things. The choice will always be yours.”

“Except the choice to love? Let me have my pet,” Maddox said. “Let me enjoy him while he is still mine to enjoy, while the world keeps him vital and young, and let me watch him grow old. Let me tend to his aching bones. Let me be there for his last breath. Let me have all that I wanted to have once upon a time. Do not be the one who takes it from me, or the vengeance you fear will come to pass. I promise it.”

Gideon’s eyes darkened. “You have grown bold, Madis. You were always strong, but now you are arrogant.”

“Not arrogant. Tired, perhaps. Old, maybe. I will protect Will with everything I am and all that I have. You remember, Gideon. I died for love once. I will do it again without hesitation. If you hurt William, you will be forced to kill me. I promise you that.”

Gideon smiled gently, perhaps even indulgently as Maddox spoke, letting him get every last self-damning word out. When Maddox’s lips finally stilled there was a pause in which Gideon let his fledgling hang.

“I hope the feeling of making threats was worth what I will do to you for making them.”

“It’s not a threat, Gideon. They are promises. Or rather, predictions. You claim to know me. You seem to feel the depth of my connection to this boy. Then you must also know what I will do if anything happens to him.”