STORY EXCERPT

He held back, forcing his body not to react.

“I saw you walk down from the wing where the bedrooms are.”

This was the first time anyone from Evzen’s clan had ever spoken to him, let alone Evzen himself. Cole didn’t understand why. After enough time avoiding the dragons who had rescued him, even they had stopped trying to speak with him. The other omegas barely said a word to him, not because they didn’t like him or thought he was beneath them but because they knew he didn’t like it.

Evzen wouldn’t know that Cole didn’t like being noticed, but Evzen was definitely of higher status than Cole was. He had no reason to ever want to associate himself with someone who cleaned bathrooms and scrubbed toilets.

That was sort of the point as to why Cole liked doing those things.

Not only was it quiet and he was left to himself, but in the end, no one got any romantic ideas in their heads about his work.

The perfect camouflage for himself. He wouldn’t have it any other way, either.

“Is there something I can do to…help you?”

Cole jumped. Evzen was still talking. He was still trying to talk to him. Why? Why was this happening to him?

“I don’t…thank you very much for the kind offer, but I’m fine on my own.” Cole swallowed hard. His heart wouldn’t stop beating so fast, and he could feel the body heat radiating from the other man. He didn’t know what to make of that. Not really. He knew he kind of liked it.

Vampires who noticed any of their servants liking anything physical tended to take advantage of such a trait with swift precision. Cole needed to avoid that with the dragons who had come to roost in this house.

“It wouldn’t be a bother. Let me walk with you. Was there anything else you needed to grab?”

He looked at the apron Cole wore, where he’d stuffed his clean gloves, spray bottle, and new rag.

“Here, let me take this back,” Evzen finally said, as though noticing there was nothing else he could take.

Cole was helpless but to let the man take the bucket.

Now Evzen had Cole’s bucket. An alpha was holding something that Cole used to clean bathtubs and scrub toilets with.

His head was going to explode, and he was going to die from the shame of this. He really was.

“Th-thank you,” Cole said, somehow managing to keep his insides settled and non-explosive in his skin.

Evzen nodded, and together they walked, slowly, awkwardly, back through the halls of the servants’ quarters to the stairs leading up and then to the wing of the house where all the rooms were that needed cleaning.

Cole felt like a robot that hadn’t been oiled in a long time. His bones squeaked and protested with every step. It wasn’t the most pleasant experience, and his fingers still burned from when Evzen touched them after taking the bucket from him.

Why was that?

“Where were you going?”

“Huh?” Cole immediately tensed. Such a rude reply would have warranted him a lashing if the vampires were still here.

Evzen was not a vampire, obviously, because he didn’t seem to notice the slight. “Which room were you going to? Would you…” He seemed to hesitate. He seemed awkward and unsure. It was a strange look on a man such as himself. “Would you like me to help you with your chores?”

“Help?” If Cole’s back tensed anymore, he was going to end up snapping his spine. There was nothing else he could do about that, so he hoped Evzen didn’t say anything else that would shock him.

Evzen nodded. “The sooner you’re finished, the sooner we could perhaps get to know each other.”

“Know each other?”

His spine didn’t stiffen further, but the floor did feel as though it was falling out from beneath his feet. The beating in his heart picked up, and he suddenly had trouble catching his breath.

Get to know. He knew what that meant. He knew what people who said that sort of thing wanted from him, what they wanted to do to him.

Evzen nodded. “I was thinking it might be a…”

Cole interrupted the man’s words when he quickly reached out, snatching the handle of his bucket from the dragon’s hands, yanking it free, and rushing into Seth’s empty bedroom.

He slammed the door quickly behind himself, locking it so Evzen wouldn’t be able to get inside.

“Or not,” Evzen said through the door.

He expected to hear hard pounding on the door, shouting, enraged shouting. The kind that he wouldn’t be able to ignore because it would be ordering him to come out, to face the man who wanted Cole in his bed.

Nothing of the sort happened.

Cole still sensed Evzen’s presence outside the door, knew the man was there, waiting to get in, but he did nothing. He didn’t break down the door, didn’t make threats, didn’t do any of the things Cole’s terrified heart worried he would do.

When the man walked away, Cole sank to his knees and thanked God.

He also cursed God because now he couldn’t make his erection go away. Why did it have to show up now? He hadn’t so much as become hard since Seth and his dragons came, and now…

He didn’t even want to look down at himself. He was disgusted. This was the worst thing in the world that could have happened.

He wanted to clean toilets and tubs because it was supposed to keep him safe from situations like this.

Now, here he was. He was completely stuck with his stupid dick making a tent out of his pants and apron, and an alpha wanted Cole for his body.

He could cry. He really could.

ADULT EXCERPT

“What I mean…” Evzen smiled. “God, this is so humiliating, what I’m trying to ask you is that I know some omega animal shifters, the males, they can produce children…”

“Oh!” Cole said, his eyes lighting up and his ears pointing up high. Like little furry triangles. “Yes, I can do that. You’re asking if I can self lubricate?”

He said it so matter-of-factly. Evzen would have expected the man to get all shy about it and to not want to say anything about it at all.

Nope. He just revealed that information as though it was just par for the course.

Evzen smiled. “At least you’re honest.”

Cole nodded. “It’s helpful for the vampires if their pleasure servants can do that. Then they don’t have to bother with anything else, though if you have any…” And now Cole looked as though he was getting a little shy, his cheeks becoming darker with color. “I wouldn’t mind it if you used something anyway. Just in case.”

Evzen nodded. “I can definitely do that for you.”

He was fairly sure he could find something slick around here. A body wash, a conditioner, or even a bottle of sunscreen hidden somewhere. This was a former vampire home, after all. There must be that sort of thing all over the place around here.

Cole sighed, as though relieved by that. “Thank you.”

Evzen pulled Cole’s jeans off his legs, pleased when the man’s cock sprang forward. Cole sucked back a breath, looking up at Evzen, as though nervous about his reaction, and Evzen seeing it.

Evzen got each pant leg off of Cole’s feet before he tossed the jeans away. Socks and all. His mouth watered at the sight of Cole’s prick. Evzen was bigger, a lot bigger, actually, but he liked what he saw. He liked that his mate was so excited to do this with him.

And he was even more excited to take Cole’s dick in hand by the base and bring the head to his mouth.

Slow and steady. He reminded himself of this again and again. His mate needed slow and steady.

Evzen sank his mouth down around the head, his tongue swirling, and as Cole moaned and shivered, his hand coming up, touching the back of Evzen’s head before pulling away, it was enough to make Evzen’s cock jump.

He pulled his mouth back. “No, keep doing that.”

Cole blinked at him, as though he was seeing everything through three feet of water. “Doing what?”

“Put your hands on my head again. Push me down if you want me to do that.”

Cole tensed. “You want me to push your head down?”

“Only if it’ll make you feel good.” He smiled at the man, his lips briefly touching the crown of Cole’s cock head one more time. God, he fucking loved the way Cole’s eyes widened like that.

As though he was scandalized something like this could be happening to him in the first place.

“Don’t be afraid to touch me. I like it.”

Evzen put his lips back around the head of Cole’s dick. His tongue and cheeks worked well to pillow the man’s sensitive bits, making his cock hum and drops of precum form at the head, which Evzen greedily swallowed down.

Cole moaned, his back arching. Evzen didn’t pull back a second time to tell the man to touch him again.

As he bobbed his head back and forth, he wanted to wait and see if it was something Cole would eventually be able to do on his own. He wanted Cole to be able to thrust his hips and push Evzen’s head down onto his cock as much as he thought Evzen could take.

And it would have been the best damned pleasure Evzen could think of, his mate pumping his hips while Evzen swallowed him down.

He wanted to see how much further he could take this. Evzen hollowed his cheeks, increasing the pressure but also tasting the saltiness of skin as his tongue swirled again and again against the hard shaft.

It wasn’t enough. Cole moaned and shook his head from side to side, but the only thing he seemed willing to grab onto was the bedsheets into his small little fists. Evzen heard a soft ripping sound, and he realized that Cole had let his small claws come out to play.

Oh God, now Evzen really wanted to feel those hands on his skin. How amazing would it be if those claws dug into Evzen’s back, scratching him up while Evzen pumped his cock into the man’s asshole?

He would be tight, too. He wouldn’t have had anyone else for a long time. Evzen could tell because he could smell no other male on this man. He probably hadn’t been taken since…

Right. Evzen reminded himself why he wanted to do this right. This wasn’t about the dragon inside his head going insane and wanting pleasure. This was about building trust.

He reached forward, his hand finding and cupping Cole’s tight testicles.

He rolled them gently, massaging them, wanting them in his mouth as well because he knew for a fact how amazing that could feel.

Cole moaned, long and loud, his spine arching up, his hands finally coming forward and grabbing the back of Evzen’s head hard as he thrust up into Evzen’s mouth, warmth flooding over Evzen’s tongue as Cole spasmed and then came.

Evzen moaned across the man’s tongue, swallowing as much down as he possibly could. He sank his lips down as far as he could go, taking Cole inside his mouth until he could go no farther and Cole’s thin hairs at the base of his cock tickled Evzen’s nose.

He could smell a pine-scented soap there. God, he smelled so damned good.

Cole panted and puffed for breath when he finished, his cock still hard, though Evzen could feel the beating of the man’s heart against his tongue.