Page 113

Lucien

L uc came to with a start.

His body felt oddly stiff, curled up in a strange position on Jamie’s overly soft couch. And his brain felt…foggy, in that way it often did after the monster took over for any prolonged amount of time.

Because the monster most definitely had taken over. Had shunted Luc to the back of his own mind in order to protect their mate. And now it was feeling unbearably smug. Soothed. Calm.

The absolute opposite of what it had felt facing those fucking twins. Their fucking threats .

And then there had been Jamie. Fierce. Undaunted. Standing up for Luc when the beast’s rage had rendered him unable to even speak.

It was unfathomable that those bastards had entered his mate’s space unannounced, with no forewarning.

Luc should have heard them. He should have sensed them.

But he’d been so immersed in Jamie in that moment.

The inner wounds and scars he’d revealed so willingly.

His looking to Luc—monstrous, horrible, Luc—for comfort in his moment of uncertainty.

His scent. The taste of his skin covered in peach juice. There had been nothing else but Jamie.

And it had allowed them to sneak up on him. What a disgrace.

What if Jamie hadn’t been on Luc’s lap, within easy reach? What if he’d been by the door instead?

What if Luc hadn’t been able to protect him?

He’d never been so torn in his life as he’d been in that moment. He and his monster had both wanted to tear the twins’ arrogant fucking heads from their arrogant fucking bodies, to spray their blood across the walls.

But underneath that all-consuming rage had been the awareness that Jamie could be hurt in the cross fire. Luc had been screaming inside his own mind, willing the monster to listen. Don’t attack. Not here. Not now.

His mortal was breakable. So fucking breakable.

So Luc had been just…frozen. Completely. Unable to speak, beyond those first shouts demanding the twins leave. He’d been barely able to think clearly, his thoughts pushed behind the monster’s rough instincts.

But Jamie.

Jamie had bargained with those redheaded assholes. He hadn’t backed down in the face of two vampires who could kill him in the blink of an eye. And then he’d gone and fucked Luc’s monster into submission, something Luc hadn’t even known was possible.

He knew his monster listened to Jamie, that it wanted, on some instinctual, animal level, to please him.

But Luc hadn’t realized the extent of it.

The monster had wanted more than anything in that moment to claim Jamie, to prove that he was theirs, that he was safe, that he was whole. But it had known that, in the state it had been in, it could have broken Jamie, used him too roughly.

Do you need to get fucked, monster?

What a fucking question.

Luc shifted, reveling in the unfamiliar sensation. He wasn’t sore exactly, not with his accelerated healing, but he could tell he’d been…used. A strange feeling—he’d never bottomed before. But Jamie had somehow known exactly what Luc and his monster needed.

And heavens above, had the human ever delivered. He’d been unpracticed, rough around the edges, but he hadn’t let it stop his…enthusiasm…driving into Luc like his only goal in life was to fill Luc up with his cum.

Perfect mate. Perfect flower. What had Luc ever done to deserve him?

Absolutely nothing , Luc thought wryly. He’d done horrible things, lived life as a wretched person, and still he’d found his desert jewel. More proof that life was, as always, terribly unfair.

Luc had thought he’d known already what love was. He’d thought with Victoria he’d at least felt…something, even if it wasn’t the mate bond. But anything he’d ever felt before paled in comparison to the emotions this human evoked in him, all of it a mere shadow of what he felt for this young mortal.

No one had ever calmed Luc down from a rage before. Even before their fallout, when Luc had been much more…rational, if Roman had ever tried, it had always led to brawls between the two of them.

And when Roman had left…

Luc had known he was acting without reason, all those years. He’d known his were the actions of a psychopath. Hounding. Stalking. Taunting Roman with the bodies of Luc’s not-so-innocent victims.

But Luc had never been able to stop himself.

Even knowing he was tormenting his old friend—his brother —to the point of despair hadn’t brought him down from his anger.

Every time he’d been tempted to leave it, to start over, his monster had been there, a snake’s voice in his ear, whispering that it wasn’t enough, that Roman couldn’t be left alone after abandoning them.

But Jamie had stopped him.

Had he been scared? Luc hadn’t smelled fear on him. Only concern. Confusion. Desire.

He could hear the rustling sounds of Jamie moving around somewhere behind his back. Luc flipped over on the couch to face him.

Jamie was…painting the living room wall?

Ah yes. Luc had a vague memory of driving his fist through that very spot.

Jamie must have heard Luc’s movements, because he turned around and lifted his paintbrush in greeting. “I found some Spackle in the garage. Fixed it right up.”

He had a spot of white paint on the bridge of his nose. It was so endearing Luc thought his heart might burst in his chest at the sight of it. He hoped it wouldn’t. That organ belonged to Jamie now, and Luc wished to offer it whole.

“I slept.” Luc grimaced at his own words. Of all the inane things to come out of his mouth.

But Jamie only grinned at him, bright and happy. Those white teeth. That crooked incisor. He was like the sun contained in human form. Luc thought he might disintegrate beneath that brightness, nothing but a pile of ashes left behind. He’d welcome it.

He was happy to burn, if it meant even one more second in Jamie’s presence.

“You did sleep,” Jamie confirmed. “I tuckered you out.” He winked—cheeky little thing—and set his paintbrush down on a sheet of newspaper he’d spread out onto the floor. “Gotta say, never thought you’d let me top you.”

Luc cleared his throat. “Neither did I. But my monster seemed to like it very much.”

The beast inside him purred its agreement.

“And did you?” Jamie asked, cocking his head to the side.

Luc pondered that. “I wouldn’t…object. If— If it was needed again.”

“Needed again…” Jamie pursed his lips in thought. Did he like the idea? He’d certainly seemed…eager…driving Luc up against the wall earlier.

“How aware were you?” Jamie asked after a moment of mulling over Luc’s words.

“Very,” Luc answered. “When it’s like that…I’m present. I’m conscious. I’m just not in charge, per se. Last time I was that enraged, the monster broke an innocent.”

“He killed someone?” There was no censure in Jamie’s voice. Only wary curiosity.

Luc shook his head. “Broke his arm, tore at his throat. The man survived. He’s mated to another vampire now.”

He was mated to Soren, in fact. Soren, who’d barely ever seemed interested in finding a mate, too preoccupied with his own secrets and mysterious past. It had filled Luc with an unbearable bitterness, finding out the news—he’d run into the little blond menace at a nightclub, of all places—but it was hard to access those bitter feelings now, with the perfect mate of his own right in front of him.

And now Luc had asked Soren for help. He’d been surprised, getting kicked out of Hyde Park, that Soren had even given him his number. The little beast had always hated Luc. But maybe Soren had felt responsible, letting Luc loose on the world, knowing he wasn’t quite in his right mind.

Luc glanced at his phone on the coffee table. No answer yet. Perhaps Soren wouldn’t answer at all. It would be well within his rights to ignore Luc’s request.

But Luc hoped not. He needed to know. About Danny and Gabe. How they’d managed the transition. His encounter with Soren had been so brief, and Luc had been so shocked hearing of the mate bond that he hadn’t asked any of the important questions.

Luc had been afraid in that kitchen earlier, truly terrified he’d turn Jamie just to lay his claim. His monster had wanted that. It had wanted to provide proof to every other vampire out there that Jamie was theirs.

It had taken every ounce of Luc’s resistance to keep himself from doing so.

Perhaps a year ago, he would have just let the monster turn their mate.

But Luc didn’t want to act without thinking anymore. He’d been mindless and vengeful for over half a century, and it had earned him nothing but hatred and disdain. He couldn’t bear for Jamie to hate him. To regret his choice to be with Luc.

He couldn’t bear for Jamie to leave him. He wouldn’t let Jamie leave him.

Luc thought of Jamie’s family. His mother, all sweetness and generosity. If Jamie accidentally hurt her…

Luc startled when he realized Jamie had crawled closer to him without his noticing. His human was peering into Luc’s eyes, his head cocked. “What are you doing?” Luc asked.

“I thought— They were green earlier, for just a second.”

Luc’s heart stuttered in his chest. He hadn’t seen his own face—his real, human eyes—since the day Victoria had died. The day Roman had left.

Had Jamie really seen a glimpse of them? What was this boy doing to him? And why didn’t the monster mind? Its control over Luc was being threatened, and it was just rolling over and showing its belly to the boy. And it was doing it so…happily.

Luc could feel it inside himself, content, sated, docile. And Luc hadn’t even needed to maim someone to get it that way. “You’re extraordinary,” he whispered, brushing a lock of Jamie’s hair behind his ear.

Jamie flushed, biting at his lip. “All I did was dick you down a bit. Nothing special.”

“No, my sweet. You are—you are magical . Perfection.”

Jamie smiled that pretty smile of his, clearly pleased at the praise. “Do I get a reward, then?”

“What did you have in mind?”