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“No!” Despite it all, Danny didn’t want Roman to stop talking to him, to stop touching him. “No. Just…processing.” He breathed deep. “Tell me more about mates. How do mates even find each other if vampires are so rare and solitary?”

Roman shifted under Danny, his muscles tense again. “From what I have heard, mates are not necessarily found in other vampires. A demon senses his mate even…before…they are turned.”

Danny felt a shiver go through him. “You mean, a mate can be a human?”

“Yes.” Roman’s hand had stilled. “A human who, when turned, will be bonded fully with their mate. Their demons will recognize each other as partners and tether each other to their humanity.”

Danny felt hesitant asking this next part, but he needed to know. “And your point was…you think I’m that for you? A mate?”

Roman was silent for a very long moment before answering.

The pause was making Danny anxious, but he wasn’t sure what he was expecting.

For Roman to be all, Yes, human I just met.

I am 100 percent certain you are my pre-vampire-demon soulmate who I will be with forever and ever ? That would be insane . Right?

Then why was Danny feeling so invested in the answer?

Roman’s voice was quiet when he finally answered.

“I had stopped believing in the concept years ago. I have never met a mated pair. Have only heard stories. And I have seen for myself when a vampire was…mistaken about finding his. But I know I have never felt this draw before. Not to a vampire or human. My demon knew right away it wanted you. I want you.”

Danny pressed himself a little closer to Roman at those words. Not a definitive answer, but it was an ego boost, at least. To be wanted by this insanely gorgeous, protective, magical—actually, literally magical —being.

Roman let out an exasperated chuckle. “You should not be moving closer, lovely. You should be running in the other direction.”

Danny sighed, doing the exact opposite and pressing his face into Roman’s chest. He smelled so fucking good. “I know that logically. But I can’t help it. That pull you talk about…I feel it too. Like I want to trust you. Like I feel safe with you. And—and you did save me, you know.”

Roman sighed. Danny seemed to have that effect on him. “I told you: do not let that fool you into thinking I am a good man. A good man would leave you now. Give you space to process. Or better yet, leave completely. Let you live your human life. A good man would want to do the selfless thing.”

Danny felt a small tug of hope in chest at the direction this seemed to be going. “But you… don’t want to do that? Leave completely?”

“No.” It was more a growl than a word.

Then Roman was turning them both, rolling Danny underneath him, pressing their bodies together chest to chest, groin to groin.

“What I want to do, lovely boy,” he crooned, running his nose along the length of Danny’s chin, “is put my hands all over you. Mark your body with my teeth. Find out what sounds I can coax out of you with my hands. My tongue. My cock.”

Danny found it suddenly very hard to breathe and not just from the weight of Roman pressing him into the mattress. He knew somewhere inside him that Roman was right. That the smart option was to take some space and process this entirely unreal situation.

But there was no part of Danny that wanted to be smart right now. He wanted all the things Roman had just said.

He wanted Roman.

“Yes. Yes, that,” he said, unable to keep the eagerness out of his voice. “Option B.”

And then Roman’s lips were on Danny’s, kissing him with savage desperation.

Despite how gentle Roman had been with him up until this point—the soothing touches, the respectful distance the night before—his kiss was aggressive, dominating.

He claimed Danny’s mouth like he owned him, hot tongue thrusting, teeth nipping.

Danny whimpered, melting under the kiss, and let himself be devoured. His cock, which had softened during their conversation, hardened in an instant.

Roman let out another growl at his compliance—fuck, why was that so hot?—and moved his lips to Danny’s neck, pressing warm, wet kisses along every inch of available skin. He nipped at the junction between Danny’s neck and shoulder with blunt, playful teeth—no sharp fangs to tear through the skin.

Danny knew he should feel some apprehension at having a creature that fed off human blood nibbling around on his neck, but all he felt was a heady desire that left him breathless and dizzy.

“More,” he urged. “More. Please.”

Roman brought his mouth back to Danny’s, silencing his pleas, and Danny heard the clinking of a belt buckle being undone.

Right. Roman was still wearing real pants.

Well, Danny didn’t have that inconvenience.

He shimmied his pajama bottoms down, taking his underwear with them, groaning with relief when his aching cock was freed.

He was rock-hard and leaking precum, but before he could get his hand on himself to get some real relief, Roman was knocking it away and pressing his own freed cock down against Danny’s, wrapping his large hand around them both.

Oh, fuck yes.

Danny moaned into Roman’s mouth, rutting into the vampire’s fist as he stroked them both, reveling in the feel of the satiny-smooth, hot skin of Roman’s cock rubbing against his own.

Roman was longer and thicker than Danny, proportionate in all ways, and Danny felt a frisson of apprehension break through his pleasure at the thought of such a big cock entering him—his sexual experience was anything but expansive—but not enough to detract from the pure pleasure of what Roman was doing to them both.

Roman broke their kiss and nuzzled under Danny’s ear, breaths coming out fast and harsh. “Oh fuck. Merde. You feel so good, lovely boy.” He sounded wrecked, and Danny couldn’t believe he was the one causing this sexy-as-fuck, experienced vampire to lose his composure like this.

The thought of it pushed Danny over the edge, and he barely had time to shout, “Fuck! Coming!” before his cock erupted, cum leaking over Roman’s fist onto Danny’s stomach.

Roman kept stroking them both, the slide of his hand just this side of too much against Danny’s oversensitive, spent cock, but the vampire was close behind him, letting out a noise somewhere between a groan and growl, spurting his own hot cum onto Danny’s chest.

They lay there for a few minutes, Roman’s body still pressing Danny’s into the mattress, both of them silent except for their panting breaths, and then Roman moved to raise himself up and off Danny.

“Feeling good, sweet boy?” he murmured in question.

“Mm. So good. So very, very good.” Danny had his eyes closed, his orgasm leaving him content but sleepy, and when Roman’s weight lifted off him, Danny had a moment of fear that the vampire was leaving already.

But then Danny felt a soothing, warm wetness, and he looked down to see Roman was licking their combined cum off Danny’s stomach in gentle strokes.

Well, fuck. Danny let out a weak moan, his spent cock attempting to rally at the thought of Roman tasting their combined essences, and Roman hummed against him in pleasure.

Danny threw his head back on his pillow. He wanted to keep his eyes open to continue watching the erotic sight, but he could feel the exhaustion of the past couple days combined with the power of his release sending him back off to sleep. They were drifting shut against his will.

He forced himself to open his eyes one last time and look down at Roman.

Black eyes were staring up at him.

Danny held his breath as Roman pushed himself up so their faces were only inches apart.

Danny expected to feel fear now that he knew what those black eyes represented, knew that Roman’s demon was looking at him, but what he saw in those eyes—hunger, desire, possessiveness—only made him feel just as safe and wanted as the rest of Roman.

Safe enough that he was still giving in to the pull of sleep.

Barely holding on to consciousness, Danny lifted his right hand and cupped Roman’s face, thumb pressed lightly against one of Roman’s fangs. “Hello, demon,” he whispered.

And then he drifted off to sleep.

Danny woke hours later feeling well rested for the first time in…he couldn’t even remember. He blushed, remembering what had prompted his going back to sleep so sated.

Guess the best orgasm in your life can really do the body good.

He grabbed his phone off the bedside table and checked the time: 1:00 p.m.

Roman wasn’t in Danny’s bed, and Danny couldn’t hear him in the house. Had the vampire left? Danny slipped on his pajama pants—they’d somehow ended up on the floor all the way across the room—without bothering with underwear or a shirt and stumbled down the stairs toward the kitchen.

He blinked as he approached his kitchen counter.

There was a big bowl with a variety of fresh fruit that definitely hadn’t been there before.

And…a note: I took the liberty of filling this kitchen with actual groceries.

Please eat some proper food. You were sleeping so soundly I did not want to wake you. I will see you soon, lovely Danny.

Warmth filled Danny’s chest at the thought of Roman going out of his way to buy him groceries.

How long had it been since someone else had stepped in to take care of something for Danny?

He opened the fridge and saw it was filled with vegetables, a new box of eggs, orange juice, milk—overall, a far cry from the empty cavern of condiments it had been just last night.