Against his lips, Mirceo rasped, "About to spill in my pants! Don't stop!" Cas drew his head back to witness the vampire in the throes. Mirceo's smoldering gray eyes had turned black with need. "I've dreamed about this, beautiful. Ride me! Use me, demon. Use me to come. Do it. Ah, gods, DO IT--"
Mirceo's back bowed. "AHHHH!" Head thrashing, he began to ejaculate; Cas could scent it.
The vampire's hot, creamy seed.
That scent hurled Cas over the edge. He was going to culminate with this male harder than he ever had before. Heart thundering, he tensed as if to take a blow.
His release was a detonation.
He threw back his head and roared to the ceiling. Bliss radiated throughout every inch of his body from his scalp to his curling toes. His mind turned over. His heart in his chest.
Pleasure had bested him. The hunter had been slain. . . .
Cas shook his head hard. Beat this obsession. Sex beckoned mere feet away. His females for the night had started leisurely sixty-nining.
A pair of courtesans going down on each other would normally put him in a lather to join in. But the sight did little to soothe his agitation.
Two options: I'm bisexual, or Mirceo is somehow enthralling me. In Poly, Cas had encountered males that others considered attractive and felt nothing. Yet just recalling the scent of Mirceo's cum made his cock throb.
His head snapped around when the vampire's voice sounded from the hallway. A nearby door opened and closed. Mirceo's low, accented words came from the next room over.
He would be bedding two nymphs on the other side of that wall.
Will I hear him spending? Those females screaming?
Damn him! Cas refused to allow Mirceo to ruin this for him. He would join the two panting courtesans in bed, taking them so long and loud that the vampire never doubted Cas was free of him forever. . . .
ELEVEN
My plan isn't working out as intended.
Mirceo paced, crazed at the thought of his mate with another. With others. Yes, the demon had bedded countless females before, as had Mirceo . . .
But now he's blooded me. Now he's brought me back to life.
Mirceo's own dates lay unclothed on the large bed, marveling at his behavior. He might've thought he would miss lush breasts and curvy bodies--he'd desired females and males equally--but now all he wanted was one very stubborn demon.
Even an immortal like Mirceo had to strain to hear sounds in the next room. These walls were thick by design. Want to see him!
The Dacians were secret observers; tonight Mirceo would return to form. Planning to test his enhanced abilities, he whispered to the nymphs, "Back in a moment." He traced into the hall, then transformed into mist. Invisible, scentless, he flowed into Caspion's room, merging with the wall.
The demon sat on a divan, lost in thought. He didn't seem to register what the females were doing to each other--though their wantonness was brow-raising.
Ah, the play of emotions on Caspion's face: lust, misery, then wrath. The demon clenched his fists and stood, staring in the direction of Mirceo's room.
I need something to spur him into action. But what? Ah, yes . . . Withdrawing as invisibly as he'd entered, he returned to his own room. "Ladies," he told his nymphs, "I'll pay a fortune in gold if either of you can amuse me." He feigned a bored yawn. "Make me laugh." Whenever he and Caspion had gone out carousing, they'd often laughed for hours. Caspion had once drunkenly admitted, "I like your laugh, vampire. Rubs me on the inside." If the demon heard Mirceo's amusement now . . .
Rising to the challenge, one of the nymphs recited a bawdy limerick. Mirceo did laugh. Loudly.
Five . . . four . . . three . . . two--
Caspion appeared and lunged for Mirceo, tracing him in midair. Suddenly, they were outside the palace in the damp night. The rolling green hills all around were covered with dew. The waxing moon hung heavy above.
Caspion shoved him against the exterior wall, cracking the bricks. "I could kill you for this!"
Mirceo drawled, "Decided to get me alone all to yourself?" For the first time, he was attracted to a warrior who could overpower him, a Dacian, and make him submit. Surprisingly, that thought got Mirceo hard as stone.
Who knew?
Behind Caspion, a palace sentinel exited to check out the commotion, but Mirceo waved him away. Attention back on the demon, he said, "All you had to do was ask."
_______
"You want to ruin everything I enjoy? Why?"
"When was the last time you enjoyed it?" the vampire demanded. "You took me from those females because you're jealous of me with others!"
I . . . am.
How? When had this bone-deep possessiveness taken hold? "You called me your mate, but the day after your blooding, you're right back in a brothel! Exactly as I'd expect."
"Because I knew you'd be here, you lout, and I wanted to provoke you." Moonlight shimmered over the vampire's face and eyes. The black ring around his light irises grew, onyx overwhelming gray.
Spellbinding me.
Had Cas earned all his new strength only to be helpless against this male? Never. Cas snapped his fangs. His horns straightened, half in lust, half in fury.
Mirceo's brows drew together. "Fuck, you get my cock hard when you go demonic."
Cas growled. He watched in disbelief as his hands shot out to seize the vampire's nape.
And then they were kissing, gnashing fangs, tongues tangling. Madness. How Cas had missed this madness! How much he hated it! His mind wasn't wandering; he was hyperaware of every detail, dialed in to the vampire's responses with a laserlike focus.
Never breaking their kiss, Mirceo reached down between them, fumbling with Cas's fly. In the cool night, he shoved Cas's pants to his knees. Then his own.
Cas jolted when heat seared him; their bared shafts had made contact. He hissed in a breath just as Mirceo lost his--they were even fucking breathing for each other!
Mirceo took both of their cocks into his hands, stroking them together. The sensations were unfamiliar. But so good.
He imagined what Mirceo's length would look like pressed against his own, and couldn't keep from bucking into the vampire's iron grip.
Was that Mirceo's pre-cum? Or my own?
Between kisses, the prince admitted, "You drive me insane with jealousy!"
Cas yanked Mirceo's hair free of its queue, then threaded his fingers through the length. "Get used to jealousy--because once this fever passes tonight, I will be with females."
Mirceo grazed a fang over Cas's jugular. "I'll never allow it."
Cas tilted his head back and stared up at the sky. "And you think to stop me?"
"Every time you're inside a female, I vow to the Lore I will be too."
Another growl erupted from Cas's chest. He peered down at Mirceo. "Then I'll chain you up somewhere, leech. A prisoner for my use. Keep you as my shameful little secret."
"If I say pretty please, sweetheart? Until that time, I won't just retaliate with females, I'll take males. Though I never have before, I will let males take me."
A haze covered Cas's vision. Another male claiming the prince's virginity?
Mirceo read him so well, twisting the knife. "Whenever I fantasize about you and me, I'm usually the bottom, so I should get some experience."
Bottom. Fucking. Sinking deep into the vampire's sleekly muscled body.
Cas wrapped Mirceo's hair around his fist. Voice unrecognizable, he bit out, "No. One. Takes. You."
"No one but you?"
Cas could erase the vampire's smirk with just one thrust.
"You once told me you hate tempering your strength during sex. I'm a blooded Dacian; I can handle anything you can imagine. Any filthy fantasy can be yours."
I could bend him over, seize his pale hips, and shove into him right now. Mirceo would moan for it. I could give him my cum.
Cum? Would Mirceo break his seal?
Then Cas would have to accept this bond! "I will never fuck you," he sw
ore, even as he sank his claws into Mirceo's bare ass. He'd never dared claw another.
The prince groaned. "Demon, more."
Cas clutched him harder. They thrust and ground in a frenzy, and all the while Mirceo kept their shafts clenched together.
Heat spread. Friction burned, but Cas couldn't get enough. "So godsdamned good!" His horns and cock ached. His . . . fangs. A demon male would bite his mate during the claiming. His gaze flicked to Mirceo's neck.
The vampire noticed. "Want to leave your mark on me, beautiful? Claim me?"
"You can dream all you want; it will never happen."
"I do dream about it. Today I stroked off while I imagined suckling your exquisite cock. In my fantasy, I took you so deep that your golden curls tickled my nose." Mercy! "I didn't stop until you went mindless. Till you lost all restraint and fucked me like a demon in his prime."
Chasing his release, Cas thrust harder. "You've got me so twisted up inside!"
"Right before I came, I pierced my lip and sucked it for your blood. Because I'll never get enough of it." Mirceo's head shot forward.
Fangs sank into Cas's neck. "Ahhh!" Pleasure exploded. That bite ruled him, rocked him. His veins felt searing hot, his blood seething to be freed. "Enjoy it for the last time, leech--"
Mirceo sucked.
Cas's eyes rolled back in his head. So . . . fucking . . . good.
The vampire snarled into his bite, lean body going tense.
Cas's eyes widened when wet heat spurted over their cocks. "Uhn! Feel your hot cum!" Out of his mind, he fucked Mirceo's tight, slippery grip. "I scent it!" Cas started to orgasm, his shaft jerking against Mirceo's. "Coming . . . COMING!"
The vampire released his bite just as Cas threw back his head and bellowed to the night sky. "Yes, yes, YES!" Pulsations seized him. Again and again, he thrust to milk every last ounce of pleasure.
Bliss and wonder made Cas float.
Only the vampire kept him from drifting away.
TWELVE
After-shudders racked the demon's powerful body.
Mirceo clutched him and experienced each one with him. Their breaths heaved in sync, their hearts pounding in rhythm.
His lids slid shut as he savored this closeness. These days, he wouldn't be happy unless every part of him was in contact with every part of this stubborn demon. He wanted their limbs entangled, blood and cum shared.
With a last dazed groan, Caspion nuzzled Mirceo's ear and neck, continuing to slowly thrust.
Mirceo's member was hypersensitive, so he loosened his grip a degree, but the demon's growl had him tightening his fingers again. With a grin, he murmured, "Shall I lick clean the mess I made down there, sweetheart?"
Tension stole over Caspion, the spell broken. Soon the demon would shove away from him, blasting accusations, denying the obvious.
Maybe Mirceo should make sure Caspion's addiction matched his. When the demon pried himself away, Mirceo swiped his cockhead for his own seed. Time to give the demon a taste of what he's missing. . . .
Hauling his pants up over his still-hard shaft, Caspion stumbled back against the wall, knees seeming to buckle.
Mirceo understood. When he'd been bloodtaking, his fangs must've been the only things holding him upright. Now he barely got his own pants in place.
Caspion slid down to sit, so Mirceo teleported over, straddling the demon's lap. "Look at me, beautiful." Mirceo curled a finger under his chin.
Resentment gleamed in Caspion's stormy-blue eyes. "You won this round. What more do you want?"
"For you to think about one thing. If no other being in all the worlds is to lay claim to me but you, then what does that make me . . . ?"
_______
Mine.
Sly vampire! Mirceo had opened the door to that kind of thinking, giving a voice to Cas's possessiveness.
Mine.
Mine.
Mine.
As if Cas had spoken aloud, Mirceo said, "Uh-huh. Yours. Fate connected us, demon. Surrender to the pull."
"Never."
"Then give me one final kiss." Mirceo leaned in and took Cas's lips in a lazy, wet kiss.
Too weak to resist him. Last night, unfamiliar pathways in Cas's brain and body had seemed to open for the first time. Tonight was no different. About to start the madness all over again, Cas tasted his own blood and something else, some delectable thread. . . .
He yanked his head away. "You prick!" He shoved Mirceo off him and traced to his feet. "You painted your lips with your cum, so I'd taste it?"
From his spot on the ground, Mirceo grinned, his eyes dancing. "Yes."
"You want to take me over, to seep into me."
Mirceo traced to stand. "As you've done to me."
If the vampire was in fact his mate and Cas refused to claim him, his demon instincts would become more explosive, growing apace with his surging aggression. Already he felt out of control. Dangerous.
How had things devolved so quickly? In this realm, it'd only been months since they'd been laughing and reveling together--since Mirceo had read to him in the still of the morning.
Cas had changed; Mirceo . . . hadn't.
The vampire had forced him into this situation. That prince had never experienced what it was like to have no choice, to be doomed to a single outcome.
To be helpless.
All of Cas's actions had been directed toward one goal: to wield control over his own destiny. He'd had no choices when orphaned. Just to eat, he'd been forced to do things no child should ever contemplate. He'd had no choices when others had scorned him for his poverty.
Now Mirceo was hemming him in once more. Either the vampire had no clue what his tricks were doing to him--or the selfish prince just didn't give a fuck.
Cas paced. "Tell me how to be rid of you."
"I did. Claim my body, and if you still don't want me, I vow to the Lore I'll never bother you again."
"That won't happen," Cas said, even as he wondered if he should simply take what Mirceo offered and lose his seal. Then he could find a female to have younglings with.
Could he fuck another male? The mere idea of sinking inside Mirceo made his body vibrate. If Cas went into one of those mindless rampages, he would be inside the prince within a heartbeat's time. He'd wrench moans out of that vampire, dominating him.
Putting the arrogant prince on his hands and knees. Such a vulnerable position. Cas rubbed the heel of his palm over his shaft.
His only physical issue with taking Mirceo? Cas feared he'd come prematurely. "I just want you gone."
"And what if you change your mind? How would you ever be able to find me?"
Though a demon could teleport to places he'd previously been, some kind of esoteric Dacian magic dimmed memories of the kingdom's location. Even a tracker like Cas could never reach Dacia again. Not that he'd ever wanted to remember how to return to that cursed place!
"Caspion, you would be mired in regret."
"I'll show as much regret as you did when your uncle set off to assassinate me. Thanks for the warning!"
Gray eyes narrowed. "I warned you before you left, sweetheart. And before you even journeyed to Dacia! But the threat of death didn't slow you down, did it? Because what happened between us was so powerful that you had to flee what you felt."
Cas couldn't argue with that. "Say that's true. You could've requested leniency for your friend."
"Ah, my friend? The one who betrayed the laws of my people? In any case, I did ask for leniency. I pleaded for it. But I was granted none. So I acted resigned, even as I plotted to do whatever it took to protect you."
If true--and natural-born vampires couldn't lie--then this news appeased at least some of the rage he felt toward Mirceo. All these years, Cas had carried that burden.
As it dissipated, numbness took its place.
"When Trehan came for you that night, I was already in Abaddon, ready to defend you," Mirceo said. "You remained in a godsdamned brothel till morning."
C
as's lips parted. He had been there. Mirceo had planned to challenge the great Prince of Shadow? Which meant Mirceo had intended to risk his very life. For me.
"But my uncle never made it to you because he sensed Bettina and was distracted. Then he entered the tournament." For her, Trehan had left his mist in front of thousands, turning his back on his kingdom. "I couldn't interfere with anything after that point."
"Do not remind me." Those tournament rules had governed all of their behavior inside and out of the ring. "Did you see Trehan fight me?" Say no . . .
"No, I didn't. My other uncles and I were chasing our new king all over the Lore, trying to protect him and Queen Elizabeth, his mate." Rubbing his nape, Mirceo added, "But I heard about it."
Cas's face heated. "The Abaddonae will never view me the same way. Trehan denied me an honorable death." Since his self-exile, Cas still wasn't ready to face the people of his kingdom.
Though I miss Bettina. He hadn't seen her in centuries.
"Honorable death?" Mirceo scoffed. "You can't enjoy honor when you're dead."
Cas didn't bother arguing with him; a spoiled prince like Mirceo would never understand. "Did you tell Trehan that I'm your mate?"
"I did."
Cas's worst enemy now knew his greatest weakness. "And how did you reveal that? Did you refer to me as your Bride? Is that how you would introduce me?"
"I see the blood rise in your cheeks." Mirceo exhaled with impatience. "Our species has always been inclusive, and now we are updating the terminology. Male or female, a mate is a mate," he said. "Besides, as a prince of Dacia--which you already are, just by virtue of our fated connection--you won't be introduced to others. They will be presented to you, because you are now a royal of the House of Castellan, the heart of our kingdom."
"Me? A prince?"
Mirceo nodded. "Mina and I are all that's left of our house. We need you, Caspion--"
"Shut up." Awareness lifted the fine hairs on Cas's nape. The rolling hills surrounding the brothel were too still. Insects and night creatures had fallen silent. He surveyed the terrain. One by one vampires materialized in the distance.
"No need to be rude, you lout." Mirceo sighed. "But if I must, I'll polish your manners along with your knob."
Cas rolled his eyes. "Vampires close in on us." They emanated menace. Excellent. He needed to vent some frustration.