Page 6 of Vampire Lee

Lee woke to heat surrounding him and groaned before reaching down and palming his hard cock. He hoped whoever he’d hooked up with last night wasn’t in too much of a hurry this morning because he was horny as hell.

Cracking an eye open, the night came flashing back, and he yanked his hand away from his groin. Pissing hell.

The regular breaths ghosting over his bare back told him Dillon was still asleep. As gently as he could, he moved away.

He’d only moved an inch when a whimper sounded, followed by flailing arms.

“Easy. It’s a dream.” He reached behind him and patted Dillon’s thigh. Striped cotton pajama bottoms. Lee had seen them the night before, but he’d had other things on his mind than paying attention to what Dillon was wearing.

A knee hit him in the ass, and he grabbed it. Not hard, but hard enough to keep Dillon from kicking him. “Dillon.”

He didn’t turn around, kept his back to Dillon, but it was easy to tell the moment he woke. His entire body went stiff, and he didn’t breathe.

“Are you with me?” He didn’t look over his shoulder, but he wanted to. He wanted to see Dillon relaxed and sleep-rumpled. Except he wasn’t relaxed. Lee released his hold on his knee.

“Vampire Lee.” It wasn’t a question, more a defeated statement.

“Lee. When you’ve slept with me, it’s against the law to call me Vampire Lee.”

He’d hoped for a laugh or maybe a snort, but Dillon didn’t make a sound.

“Ready for some breakfast?” He didn’t know what time it was, but it was light outside and looked as if it’d been for a while.

“Eh…” Silence descended again, and Lee almost looked over his shoulder. Almost.

“Come on.” He rolled away from Dillon and got out of bed. He reached for his clothes on the armchair in the corner and got dressed. Dillon still hadn’t moved on the bed, and Lee sneaked a quick glance. He was staring at the ceiling, a small crease between his brows.

“Dillon.”

Dillon turned his way but yanked his gaze away before their eyes could meet. “Come on, breakfast. I have a meeting with the guys after.”

“The guys?”

“Your roommates. Some weird things are going on.”

Dillon stiffened, and Lee mentally cursed himself. Murrie had told him Dillon didn’t work for them. Maybe it meant they weren’t telling him things.

“What kind of things?”

Lee was quiet for a bit, long enough for Dillon to look at him. Not meeting his eyes but looking at his chest or maybe chin. “What kind of things?” There was an almost steely tone in his voice, and Lee was pleased to hear it.

“Fighting ring, we think. I heard some shit while working and told Murrie about it. Then one of the guys we suspect is involved took an interest in Rei, so we pretended to be a couple. When we left the bar yesterday, someone followed us to my apartment, so we snuck out and went here instead.”

“Vampires.” It wasn’t a question, but Lee treated it as if it had been.

“Shifters. I can’t promise no vampires are involved, of course. There most likely are some fighting. People like betting on interspecies fights. Wankers.” He hadn’t meant to snarl the last bit, but it was how it came out.

Dillon’s eyes widened. “Interspecies fights?”

“A vampire and shifter locked in a cage with no way out until one is dead or gravely injured. Some matches are to the death, others are not. Time will tell which kind we’re dealing with here.” Tension crept into Lee, and he curled his hands into fists.

“And they want Rei?” Dillon turned paler than before.

“Jaguars are rare, many would pay good money to see him fight.”

Dillon pushed up until he was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the bed. Lee wanted to crawl back in there with him. He looked away. Dillon wouldn’t want him to.

“You can’t let them have him.”

Lee sent him a quick grin. “You’re giving me far too much credit. I have little say in what’s going on in the world, but I’ll do my best to keep Rei safe. Though he can most likely do a better job of it than I can. He’s a jaguar, Dillon. You don’t need to worry about him.”

Unless they threw him in a pit with someone equally dangerous, of course. Or tipped the scales. Lee had seen how they mutilated some fighters to even the odds. A wave of nausea washed over him. Nope, not thinking about it.

Plus, wasn’t the plan for him to play leverage? It was the idea that had popped up in his mind when they’d come here last night. Pretend to be Rei’s lover, have them kidnap him or whatever to get Rei to come to them, only the entire fucking team would swarm the place and take everyone down. Yup, it was the plan. No one was to fight anyone in a cage. Lee didn’t do cages, and he sure as fuck didn’t subject his lovers, one-night stands or otherwise, to cages either.

“Come on. Breakfast.”

To his surprise, Dillon got off the bed and walked out of the room in front of him.

* * * *

Dillon hesitated outside his broken door. “You can go downstairs. I’ll get dressed.”

“I’ll wait.”

Hiding a grimace, Dillon entered the room. He’d spent the night in the same room as Vampire Lee—Lee now when they’d slept together. He huffed then quieted. How well did vampires hear? Not as well as shifters, he didn’t think.

He had slept. It was what puzzled him the most. He’d slept in the same bed as a vampire, his forehead resting against his bare back, and he didn’t think Lee had messed with him.

Clenching his ass, he then ran his fingers over his throat. No twinges and no sore spots. Maybe he’d fucked Lee. He fondled his limp dick. It had been limp for months, ever since he got out of the underground mansion. Part of him worried about it, another part couldn’t care less.

Nope, he didn’t think it had been used. No crusty semen or other signs, and his pajama bottoms were tied the same way they always were. On the other hand, if Lee had told him to tie them, he’d have tied them the same way he always did.

“When you said I’ve slept with you, you didn’t mean…” He let the words hang in the air, pretty sure Lee could hear him through the mostly closed door. It wasn’t shut all the way since it was broken, and he believed Lee was still waiting for him in the corridor.

The door slowly swung open. Lee’s hand splayed on it, and his face was blank as he looked into the room and found Dillon standing in the middle of it. “What did you just ask me?” The emphasis on the what made Dillon wince.

“You said we’d slept together, but I can’t feel—”

“Oh my God.” Lee took a couple of steps into the room and shoved the door closed behind him only to shove it again when it opened a crack after he let go of it. A grunt of annoyance left him, then he moved. A little too fast for Dillon’s comfort, but he remained standing in the same spot.

“You did not ask me…” A look of disbelief took over Lee’s face, then he shook his head. “Babe, if we ever fuck, you’ll know. Not that…you’re human, and…I eh…like…” Lee rubbed his neck. “I want my lovers aware and willing when they are in my bed.”

“Yeah, right.” Dillon snorted and regretted it half a second before the sound manifested in the room. Shit, he was stupid.

Lee stiffened, gone was the mellow guy he’d woken up next to, and before him stood a predator. Dillon took a stumbling step back. “Sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—” Damn.

Lee took a shuddering breath and rolled his shoulders. “Nothing to be sorry about. Come on, get dressed.”

He didn’t dare object. Yanking his shirt over his head, he then dove for the dresser for another long-sleeved shirt. Privacy was a commodity, and self-consciousness had been beaten out of him a long time ago.

Next, he yanked off the pajama bottoms, keeping his back to Lee. He’d change his underwear later. He found a pair of jeans, bought to look worn, and he liked the soft feel of them. Clothes were good. After having lived years mostly being naked, he really, really liked clothes. He didn’t care what they looked like as long as they were on his body.

Turning around, he kept his gaze on the floor. “Ready.”

Lee didn’t move for several seconds, and Dillon didn’t dare look at him.

“Let’s go.” The broken whisper had Dillon stumbling forward. Why had he whispered?

* * * *

Lee didn’t know if he breathed a single time on the way down to the kitchen. It was a miracle he didn’t fall on the stairs since all he could see was the image of Dillon tearing his shirt over his head in jerky movements. His skin was ruined by bite mark upon bite mark. One scar melted into another, creating more and more arched ridges, and bile teased the back of Lee’s throat.

Lee had tasted human blood once, from a bag. He hadn’t understood what the hype was about. He’d had a couple of lovers through the years who’d allowed him to bite them, and it had been awesome. It had always turned him on to see his bite on their skin. But they had all been shifters and healed fast, not to mention he’d licked the punctures to help it along. He didn’t get off on hurting and ruining anyone. The puncture wounds would give him a thrill, then he’d lick them closed and watch them melt away.

Dillon looked like someone had thrown him in a pool with giant piranhas, and it wasn’t the way a vampire bite should look. Someone, several someones, had bitten into him with all their teeth, not only their fangs.

The floor shook underneath his feet.

PTSD. For fuck’s sake. And Devin had said Dillon did better than he had. How bad had it been for Devin?

No wonder Mars had looked like he wanted to kill him when he’d knocked on the door unannounced. Fucking hell. Fucking, fucking hell. And he’d forced Dillon into his bed last night, and been pissed when he hinted Lee might have…He gulped down a breath. There it was, oxygen. He blew out a shuddering sigh, his gaze glued on Dillon’s neck. He walked tall and proud in front of him, and it wasn’t until they reached the bottom floor, he sunk into himself, almost shrinking on the spot. There were voices in the kitchen.

“Want to go in there?”

Dillon shook his head.

“Want me to get you something?”

Another headshake.

“You should eat something.” He was too thin. Lee had always been lean and wiry, but Dillon looked like someone who built muscles if given the right nutrition and exercise. “Coffee? A sandwich.”

Before Dillon could reply, if he’d meant to reply, Rei appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. A cup of tea in one hand and a plate with two sandwiches with cheese and tomato slices. He handed them to Dillon without a word, then he met Lee’s gaze. “Grab something to eat, then we’ll get the meeting going.”

Dillon slipped away, walked up the stairs again, and Lee stood unmoving until he’d disappeared from view. “What the fuck happened to him?” He kept his voice low to make sure Dillon didn’t hear, and he didn’t think Devin could hear him either, even if he was right inside the kitchen door.

“Blood slave. We got him out seven-eight months ago.” Rei didn’t smile. He didn’t look threatening, but there was something dark lurking behind his eyes. “What happened?” When Lee didn’t answer right away, he pressed. “With the door.”

“I panicked. I was half asleep when I heard a whimper, then a scream, and I don’t know what I was thinking. That you wouldn’t make it up in time from the floor below, and I was the only one close enough. I forced the door open, and…it was a dream.”

Rei nodded. “Yeah, I should’ve warned you. We’ve been listening to nightmares for three years, but I remember when we first took Devin in. I don’t think anyone slept for weeks. Faelan switched rooms with Mars to not have to be the one closest to him.” Rei flashed fangs. “I’d kill those fuckers all over again if I was given the chance.”

“They’re…”

“Yeah. We got the slaves out and slaughtered most of the others. A few of the…customers were brought in for questioning, but the ones who ran it are dead. Doesn’t mean there aren’t more places out there, of course, but we got Devin and Dillon out at least. Has to count for something.” He shrugged and motioned for Lee to follow him into the kitchen.

Has to count for something. Lee wasn’t sure what he’d believed they did, but this wasn’t it. He’d heard whispers at the bar and knew Rei did something in law enforcement. He hadn’t been thinking about blood slaves or whatever else they worked with. Kidnappings, since he’d talked about missing crossbreeds the night before.

With a shaky breath, he walked into the kitchen.