STORY EXCERPT

Julius

I sat in the pre-dawn darkness, alone. The chaise longue upon which I sprawled was situated beside a long, wraparound picture window that looked out onto the small lake. At this early hour, even with my superior vision, there was little to see. My ears picked up the screech of an owl and the tiny rustlings in the underbrush of small rodents scurrying about trying to find a bite to eat.

Winter was drawing in, snow heavy on the ground. Fall was officially over. As I watched through the glass, I was glad I had decided to spend extra money on specially treated glass that deflected the damaging rays of the sun, which would ordinarily fry me to a crisp. It was not a pleasant way to go, as it was not an instantaneous death. Instead, I would spend many minutes slowly cooking from the inside out as the sun’s invisible death rays penetrated my pores until I eventually exploded into a cloud of dust. I’d seen vampires die that way and shuddered, remembering their agony.

I enjoyed this place in the house, viewing the burgeoning dawn then feeling the warmth of the sun on my skin. I missed, sometimes, being human. There were some definite disadvantages to being a vampire. Outliving my family had been a big one. I had never aged but had watched—from afar—as they all slowly faded, growing old and gray, their joints riddled with arthritis.

My thoughts turned to darker memories. Charles, the traitor who had betrayed my coven. I had not seen his treachery, had been so besotted with the man, and that was the crux of my miserable thoughts, which turned over and over themselves, trying to find answers. In essence, there were none. Charles had been working for Theo and had played me perfectly. I had allowed myself to be seduced, had allowed Charles to use me as he would. I was ultimately responsible for my own downfall, and for that, I would never forgive myself. I had betrayed the Crossroads Coven. I had murdered six of my family. I deserved to be stripped of my rank. I was no prince. I was a fool.

“Sire, why do you distress yourself still?” Connie. I jumped, startled, when I heard her soft voice beside me. She had entered the large, airy living area without my hearing her.

“Why do you stay with me?” I retorted bitterly, staring out into the wilderness, watching the purpling of the sky beyond the lake turning to lilac as dawn tumbled over the horizon.

I felt the chaise dip slightly beneath her weight as she perched beside me. I refused to look at her, ashamed that she would see my anguish. Connie was over two thousand years a vampire. She had been wet nurse to an Egyptian queen, born into slavery, and had bore two sons, both who had been killed at birth by her captors. Her babies had been bludgeoned to death while she watched, and she had then had to nurse her queen’s children in a macabre twist of the knife. Her attempt to escape had resulted in her being flogged to within an inch of her life and then slung into the gutter to die. That was where I had found her, a buxom, beautiful woman in her early thirties, her back ripped to shreds by the vicious flaying, her mind almost shattered by the weight of her grief.

I had taken her to my den, and Mercer, Silas, Sven, and I had nursed her back to health again. It had taken time, and a lot of love, but she had been worth the effort. She was the kindest, warmest of our family. Once we had awoken her inner sex goddess, she had been unstoppable. She had been so passionate, so intensely sexual, that we had welcomed her with open arms. We four men were the core of our coven, having been together for over two millennia. Connie had been our first female conversion, and she was the most loving woman. Right now, though, I did not want love. I was enjoying wallowing in my own miserable thoughts. I snarled at her as she touched my arm, earning me a cuff on my ear.

Snarling again, I bared my fangs at her, seeing the eye roll in return and the almost bored expression on her beautiful face. She arched a brow at my continued hissing, and I subsided, sulking. Connie was sexy as fuck, and I loved her dearly, but she had a knack for making me, a prince of vampires, feel like a naughty schoolboy.

“Quit your bitching,” she said sharply then stroked my thigh gently, to soothe the bite of her words.

“I’m trying to have a moment of solitude,” I replied haughtily, refusing to look at her.

She laughed at my petulance, her great booming laugh that never failed to get a smile out of me. I kept my mouth in stern lines, refusing to give in to the amusement that threatened.

“You’re sulking,” she said, snorting.

“I don’t sulk,” I shot back, pouting.

I caught the rolling of her eyes in my peripheral vision and gave a huff of irritation.

“Julius, you may be a three thousand-year-old blood-sucking stud, but you’re not like the other monsters we share the earth with,” she said, as soft as butter. “Theo played you because he has no finer feelings. He’s not only ruthless but weak, too.”

I sent Connie a startled glance at the analogy, frowning.

“It’s true,” she continued. “Theo is like a little boy, wanting what everyone else has, just because that person seems to be doing better than he is. You’ve earned the respect and love of thousands over the years and yet have only chosen a select few to be part of your coven. He's jealous.” She shifted, grabbing a couple of large cushions and sitting propped on the chaise, facing me, her feet in my lap.

ADULT EXCERPT

Mercer

Julius tasted deliciously of spice and musk and a little saltiness to add to my palate. As a blood-sucking undead creature, I could still appreciate the different textures and flavors on my tongue. I particularly enjoyed driving my prince to ever-increasing ecstasy, at my mercy as I devoured him voraciously, wanting to show him just how much I wanted to please him…for eternity. This man had stood against an entire legion of Roman soldiers to protect me. He had faced down one of the most feared vampires, his sire, who had wanted to take me as one of his own, and had fought to the death against a monster ten times as vicious as Theo. Julius had earned my undying love and respect for that alone, taking on a brutal killer so that I would not suffer under Prince Harald’s brutality.

Julius came apart, his balls drawing up before shooting their load into my avid mouth. I drank the thick cream down but didn’t stop sucking. He cried out desperately, pleading for mercy, but I gave no quarter, determined for him to know how much he meant. I turned him onto his hands and knees and lifted his hips, presenting his little pink hole for inspection. I lowered my mouth, nibbling the soft globes of his ass, sucking up little love bites, ignoring his gasps of entreaty. He wanted to be fucked, He wanted my cock deep inside him. I would make him wait just a while longer, I thought, smiling against his smooth flesh. He cursed me luridly, in seven different languages, then added a few more, to make sure I understood what a cock-teasing bastard son of a buffalo I was. I got the message, sinking one thick finger into his clenching hole as punishment.

“Fucking hell!” Julius yelped, his chute clenching around my finger as he adjusted to the sudden invasion. “Warn me next time!”

“Yes, sire,” I replied respectfully, crooking my finger and finding his prostate. “I’m about to drive you out of your mind, now,” I added, laughing at his continued swearing, then nailed his tiny gland over and over until his cock was thick and dripping once more, and he was shoving his hips back at me, begging me to nail him with my cock. I declined the invitation and removed my finger from his horny hole, shoving my tongue inside instead, which had him raking at the carpet with his claws, his head flung back as I gave him an intimate cleansing.

“Mercer…” Julius wailed and then gave a piercing yell before his cock erupted once again. Quickly turning him, I aimed his thick hose at my face and opened my mouth to catch the ropes of thick cum as they spattered everywhere.

Catching his cock between my lips again, I cleaned him off tenderly and then lowered his trembling body, aiming my rock-hard cock at his anus. He clutched at my shoulders as I breached him, punching past the loosened ring of muscles guarding his channel. I controlled his descent, groaning myself as his exquisite warmth wrapped around me, inch by succulent inch.

“I love you, Julius,” I told him, cupping his head as I kissed him, putting all my love for him into the smooch. My toes curled up as the heat increased, our mouths desperately meeting again and again, passionate and hungry for more.

I stroked his back, my big hands making sweeping motions over his silken curves as I raised and lowered him, repeatedly skewering him with slow, dragging motions. Our kisses became languid and luxuriously decadent, and we sighed in pleasure.

“I love you, too, my beautiful warrior,” he replied after awhile, easing back to stare into my eyes, his as black as pitch and yet glowing with the softest light. “Such a fierce man, fighting for your survival and bowing to no one.” He rubbed his slender fingers over my broad chest, massaging my big pecs tenderly. “Even close to death, you snarled and hissed at me like a thwarted feline.” He smiled suddenly in amused remembrance. “If I recall, you tried to attack me, but your wounds were many, and you were so starved you were too weak to finish the threat.”

He tweaked my nipples sharply, and I laughed at his arch look.

“If I recall, you gave me that exact same stare, cajoling me without even saying a word,” I retorted, lifting him up a little as I snapped my hips, fucking him a little harder.

Julius gave a groan of satisfaction, balancing himself on his knees and spreading his thighs even wider. I took advantage of the increased access, gripping his bouncing cock as I upped the tempo even more. Both of us groaned like a couple of porn stars going for broke, sharing passionate kisses and sultry glances.

I was so turned on from our foreplay, and watching Julius come twice, that I couldn’t last much longer as I tunneled vigorously inside his sweet depths. He bounced with each hard thrust, his face flushed with desire and his eyes closed as he chased yet another orgasm. We came together, with twin screams of satisfaction as I shot thick cum into him, his load coating my hand and his as he came apart yet again, his claws clutching at my shoulders, drawing blood.

Holding him close, I caught up to my senses and cradled him to me, loving his trembling sighs and the occasional whimper as he came back down to earth.