Page 41

Roman

R oman gave a light slap to the pert, denim-clad ass hanging over his shoulder, gratified when Danny gave a little yelp in response.

Roman still had his doubts about letting Luc go free, but Danny’s ploy had worked all too well. Roman could think of nothing now but claiming his mate. Add that to the fact that he had never relished the idea of killing his old friend, and Roman was a lost cause.

It had all been too much: the mind-numbing grief of thinking he’d lost Danny, the shock of the mating bond snapping into place, the frustration in being made to stand back while his mate faced Luc one last time.

Roman needed tactile assurance that Danny was okay, that Danny was his .

Ours , his demon growled.

Ours , Roman agreed.

He managed to gather his thoughts enough to call out to Soren in the kitchen on the way up the stairs, “Drop Luc out of town somewhere.”

He ignored Soren’s squawking protest in response. He knew Soren would do as he asked. The blond vampire was feeling guilty enough having left Danny out of his sights, allowing Luc to get to him.

Roman didn’t actually blame his friend for that—they had both thought Luc was out of town and Danny safe—but he would use that guilt in his favor for this last Luc-related task.

Entering Danny’s bedroom, Roman tossed his mate onto the bed before slamming the door shut. Danny bounced once on the mattress, but in the blink of an eye, he was upright again, kneeling at the edge of the bed, black eyes on Roman.

Roman was momentarily stunned to see his mate move so fast, but he recovered quickly. “Take off your clothes,” Roman growled, unbuttoning his own shirt.

“No.” Danny grinned at him cheekily, and Roman raised one eyebrow, his fingers stilling on his last button.

“I thought you wanted me inside you, lovely.”

“I do,” Danny agreed, tilting his head to the side. “But I want to do this my own way.”

He launched himself at Roman, twisting them in the last moment so the momentum landed Roman on his back on the bed, with Danny straddled over his hips.

Roman was a little impressed.

He smirked up at his lovely mate, whose eyes had returned to their usual deep brown, pupils dilated. Apparently Danny was finally losing a little of that unnatural control he had over his demon, if he was shifting back and forth like this.

Roman couldn’t help but feel pleased it was Danny’s desire for him that was the cause.

“Are you wanting to play, little king?” Roman crooned, tracing his fingers over Danny’s jawline.

Danny nodded, but it was an absent gesture. He was more focused on eyeing Roman’s body like it was his next meal.

“I want to see what you taste like now,” Danny murmured before ripping the rest of Roman’s clothes right off him. He hummed in satisfaction when the fabric tore easily under his fingers.

Roman was enchanted by Danny’s delight in his own strength. This was a whole new side to his mate, and Roman loved every bit of it.

He had been so worried Danny would be grieving the loss of his humanity, the loss of his own choice in his transition, when he awoke, but his mate was clearly reveling in his newfound abilities.

Perhaps that would change when the shock wore off, but if Danny wanted to play in this way with his new senses, Roman was more than willing to be his mate’s guinea pig.

“You can do whatever you want to me, little king, “ he purred. “I am at your mercy, as usual.”

Danny smiled sweetly at him before leaning to kiss Roman deeply, pushing his tongue into Roman’s mouth with a new aggression that sent all the blood rushing straight to Roman’s cock.

“I know you are,” Danny whispered when he was done with his plundering.

Cocky little thing.

Roman knew he wasn’t, really. Even after Danny’s transition, he could still easily overpower the smaller vampire. But he’d let it slide for now. Although, there was potential there. Roman could easily imagine a night of battling for dominance in the bedroom. The thought made him growl in arousal.

His mate was already moving down Roman’s body, licking and nibbling at all the skin along the way. He stopped at Roman’s cock, engulfing it in his hot mouth in one deep swallow.

Roman’s back arched off the bed, and he almost lost it completely when Danny hummed around his length, only saved the embarrassment by the relief of Danny popping off him to lick the precum off his lips, muttering, seemingly to himself, “Fucking delicious.”

His mate was going to kill him at this rate.

Danny began ripping off his own clothes, and his weight disappeared briefly from Roman’s hips before he was back in an instant, brandishing lube.

Roman reached out a hand in demand. “Let me.”

“No.” Danny smacked his hand away with another cheeky grin. “This is my rodeo.”

Roman could only watch in helpless desire as Danny reached behind himself with lubed fingers to open himself up for Roman’s cock.

It was one of the sexiest sights he’d ever laid eyes on. Danny’s head thrown back, eyes closed, full mouth slack with pleasure. Roman was pleased to see his mate’s whole upper body still apparently flushed a rosy pink when he was turned on, even after the change.

It was Roman’s favorite color.

He could feel his nails ripping through the sheets and into Danny’s mattress with the effort to keep his hands to himself, but Roman kept himself under control, allowing his mate to take the lead. For now.

After what felt like an eternity, Danny lowered himself onto Roman’s cock with single-minded determination.

Roman moaned low, closing his eyes at the full-body pleasure he felt as Danny’s tight heat gripped him. This was where Roman belonged. Inside his mate.

Danny didn’t wait any time at all to adjust to Roman’s size, immediately snapping his hips forward, riding Roman with abandon. Any attempts Roman made to grab onto his hips, to lead the pace, were met with snarls, his hands immediately slapped away.

Roman had no choice but to relax back and allow his mate to use his body as he wanted.

When Danny was on the verge of coming, his body tensing and losing its rhythm, he stilled completely.

“Move,” Roman growled. He was so close. They both were.

Danny ignored his request. “Can I? Do vampires ever…?” He was eyeing Roman’s neck, and heat swirled in Roman’s belly as he realized what his mate was asking.

“They do,” he answered. “You won’t get any sustenance from it. But it is a form of…intimacy…for our kind.”

Danny’s eyes turned black, his fangs dropped, and he bit into Roman’s neck without any further warning. Roman relished the sharp sting, even more so when Danny started to move his hips again.

Roman’s mate drank deeply, growling in a way that Roman found positively adorable.

Roman grabbed Danny’s ass with both hands, finally pulling his mate’s hips into the fast, ruthless pace he’d been craving. This time Danny let him without protest.

It took only a few of those fast, deep thrusts before Danny released Roman’s neck with a groan. Warm wetness hit Roman’s chest as his mate found his release.

Roman growled, lifting his hands from Danny’s hips to the boy’s shoulders, flipping them both so he could fold his mate in half and drive into him properly, chasing his own release.

Sex with Danny had always been mind-blowing, but now, not having to hold himself back anymore for fear of hurting the boy, it was at another level. Roman felt like a mindless, rutting beast, using his mate’s body for his own pleasure.

Danny seemed happy to take it, his cock rallying, growing hard and flushed again against Roman’s stomach. He was babbling in the way he did when he was overwhelmed and turned on. “Fuck. Yes, yes. Please. Fuck, Rome.”

Roman’s sack was full and tight against his body, his release imminent, but he held on until his mate came a second time, coating both their stomachs in sticky cum.

Yes.

Pleasure shot throughout his own body, his demon roaring in triumph as he emptied himself into their mate.

Roman and Danny both spent long moments catching their breath. Roman didn’t want to move at all. He was content, his weight resting on his mate. Keeping Danny where he belonged—in their bed.

Roman lifted his head. “Show me.”

Danny didn’t have to ask what he meant. He flushed slightly, embarrassed by the request, but then his eyes shifted to black, and his fangs dropped again.

Roman took it in, the sight of his sweet, formerly human mate shifted. The differences were so slight yet life-altering.

“Am I…am I okay like this?” Roman heard it, the almost imperceptible difference in Danny’s voice when his demon was at the forefront. Unlike Roman’s, which turned even deeper, almost gravelly, Danny’s voice took on a more melodic tone.

Roman smiled at his mate in wonder. “Your demon is as lovely as you are.”

Danny smiled, relief lighting up his eyes as they shifted back to brown. “He really likes you,” he whispered shyly. “My demon.”

“That is fortunate,” Roman laughed. “Because I am afraid he is going to have to keep me. I am not going anywhere.”

Danny’s answering smile was one of the sweetest things Roman had ever seen.

Roman eyed the candy thermometer sticking out of the copper pot in front of him. A few more minutes, and it would be ready.

He could hear Danny’s stomach growling from across the kitchen. Roman hadn’t even known vampire stomachs could growl, but he supposed he’d never seen a vampire go hungry for long enough to find out. Self-control wasn’t normally their strong suit.

As it was, he’d had to forcibly remove Danny from their bed once Roman had realized the shadows under his mate’s eyes—the ones being turned had mercifully gotten rid of—were reappearing.

It turned out that, while a newly turned vampire with a bonded mate may have more control over their blood lust than normal, they were insatiable little creatures when it came to actual lust. They’d already had sex twice more after Danny’s initial claiming of him, and Danny had been ready for another go. But the boy needed sustenance.