STORY EXCERPT

Fynn Lumet had to find a way out of this prison. He wasn’t even sure how long he’d been there, but the thirst eating away at his throat was becoming too much. He’d gone from getting snatched off the street and being thrown into a cage to being snatched from a hallway and thrown into a basement.

How could his life suck any worse?

Wait, he knew how. The person who’d brought him here was his mate. Fynn had scented it in the car, even though Ayden had acted as if Fynn was the most despicable person on the planet.

Truthfully? Even if Fynn managed to escape, he had nowhere to go. It wasn’t as if his parents would let him come back home. His father had made it clear that Fynn was no longer welcome there. His mother hadn’t defended him. Instead, she’d called Fynn some very mean names and told him he was useless as a vampire and a complete disappointment to them.

Now his mate didn’t even want him.

Not that Fynn was throwing himself a pity party. He wasn’t. He simply wished that, just once, something would go right for him. Fynn still didn’t understand why his parents doted on Oric and acted as if their youngest son didn’t exist.

Oh wait. Yes he did. Because Oric was the meanest, the most coldhearted vampire to ever walk the planet. His brother had tortured Fynn growing up, and his parents had never done anything to stop him.

They were proud of Oric. In their eyes Fynn’s brother could do no wrong, whereas Fynn was a complete and utter failure because he really didn’t like the sight of blood, didn’t go around feeding off of strangers, and had a kind heart.

So, he was basically a failure as a son and a vampire. Now he would be a failure as a mate.

Fynn paced the empty room with its stone walls and single door, which was impossible to break down. He’d tried, only to hurt his shoulder.

And the hunger… Fynn curled his arms around his midsection, his throat so dry it felt like he’d swallowed a bunch of sand. He couldn’t even stop those hyena shifters from trying to turn him into a crazed killer.

Fynn had been taken off the street and thrown in a cage. Hyena shifters had hooked him up to an IV, and tried to feed him too much, which would have turned him rogue. A vampire without a conscious, draining any victim he could get his hands on.

They’d almost succeeded, but Fynn had escaped. He’d accomplished that much.

Only to be captured again.

He really was a failure. A joke as a vampire. A detested mate. An embarrassment as a son and brother. Too darn nice for his own good. He’d had a chance to feed outside that apartment, and what had he done? Knocked the human out instead and cringed away from the thought of sinking his fangs into flesh.

“This, my boy, is what you call a pity party. Deny it all you want, but it’s true. So chin up and figure this out, just like you figured out how to get out of that cage and escape.”

Did he really want to run from here? Did he want to leave his mate behind?

“If he doesn’t want you, you’re not staying.” Fynn never stayed anywhere he wasn’t wanted. He didn’t like rejection. Not one bit. Maybe he was as sensitive as his mother claimed. That might be true, but Fynn wasn’t going to be anyone’s burden.

Now he was homeless, broke, and was going to probably be killed by the wolves who currently held him captive.

Fynn spun when the door opened. His heart raced and his hunger intensified at the thought of anyone entering. He didn’t want to feed from the source, but the thirst was becoming overwhelming.

Until Ayden stepped in.

His mate.

The man who loathed him.

“How’re you feeling today?”

Ayden’s question threw Fynn. On the ride to the gorgeous house, Ayden had talked massive crap, telling Fynn how he should have been killed, that he was faking being almost converted. How he was just another psychopath bloodsucker like the rest of the rogue population.

Those words had hurt deeper than Ayden would ever know, especially after he’d realized that the shifter was his mate.

“Thirsty.” Fynn eyed him warily, untrusting of Ayden’s concern.

“I had a long talk with Christian on how to handle this situation.” Ayden moved farther into the room.

Why would Ayden have a conversation with the prince of vampires about him? Why did his mate even care?

“And?”

That was when Fynn saw the bagged blood in Ayden’s hand. His hunger roared as his gazed fixated on that bag. His fangs elongated, and he had difficulty concentrating on what Ayden was saying. All he thought about was how badly his body hurt and how much he wanted to ease the pain.

At least one of his problems could be solved with that bag.

“And he gave me a feeding schedule and the amount I should give you in order to help the effects of what those hyenas did to you.”

Fynn might have escaped, but he had consumed a lot of blood, which had intensified his cravings. He wasn’t rogue, but he wasn’t himself either.

He licked his lips. “I don’t mean to be rude, but can I have that bag now and we can talk about everything else afterward?”

Ayden tossed him the bag, and Fynn reached for it but missed. It hit the floor with a weird thud at his feet. Fynn shrugged before he picked it up then sank his fangs right into the top of the bag.

Right now, he didn’t care how he looked. All he could think about was quenching the thirst beating against his brain, clawing at his insides, and making him feel like anything but himself.

ADULT EXCERPT

The weight of the entire fiasco was making Fynn’s body buckle. He felt as if he was carrying the weight of the world, and all he wanted was relief, even if that relief was in the form of sex. “What if this is exactly what I need?”

Ayden’s brown eyes darkened. “You’re making it really hard to do the right thing, beautiful.”

If Ayden kept calling him beautiful, Fynn just might lose his heart to the wolf. No one had ever called him that before, and Fynn was eating up the endearment.

“Who said I wanted you to do the right thing?” Fynn reached down and gripped Ayden’s hard cock, making his mate hiss as he closed his eyes before opening them again.

Ayden brought his lips back down on Fynn’s, the kiss nothing short of possession. Fynn was too busy trying to swallow Ayden’s tongue to think about whether this was right or wrong. He yanked at Ayden’s hair, pulling at the strands, greedy and consumed with the need to be taken.

“I’m going to ask one last time. Are you sure about this?” Ayden pulled back and gazed down at Fynn. There was too much trust in the man’s brown eyes, a trust Fynn didn’t deserve. Not yet. Not until he’d beaten this addiction.

“Make love to me,” Fynn said breathlessly.

A slow smile spread over Ayden’s handsome face. He inclined his head and then grabbed the waistband of Fynn’s boxers. Fynn lifted his ass, letting Ayden slide them free.

Heat scorched through him, fire licked at his groin, a wave of dizziness washed over him…and then Ayden slowed, as if rushing through this wasn’t acceptable.

It was to Fynn. He wanted to feel the man buried deep in his ass, but Ayden had other plans. He cupped Fynn’s face and moved his lips slowly over his jaw and neck, sending shivers throughout Fynn’s body. The man’s other hand smoothed over Fynn’s bare chest, tweaking his nipples, making him moan as he writhed beneath Ayden’s powerful body.

Propping his arms on either side of Fynn’s head, Ayden brushed his finger over Fynn’s hair. “Tell me I can trust you, sweetheart. Tell me I don’t have to worry about you trying to run away again.”

The desperation in Ayden’s eyes hit Fynn soul deep, like a sledgehammer slamming into his gut. Instead of lying to his mate, Fynn said, “I can’t promise anything right now, Ayden. Not until I know I’ve beaten this.”

Ayden closed his eyes and shook his head. “I want to kill DePaul for doing this to you.”

Fynn took a deep breath and let it out before tracing the tips of his fingers along Ayden’s upper arms. “Can we leave this discussion for another time?”

Ayden’s eyes became liquid pools of darkness, of heat and desire as he pulled back and then stood over Fynn, undressing in a way that made Fynn think the man was doing a striptease for his entertainment, his pleasure. Ayden’s hands moved slowly over his shirt, skimmed down his chest until he reached the hem, and then pulled it over his head, tossing the fabric to the floor.

Next were his own boxers. Fynn drooled as he watched Ayden’s muscles bunch and flex as he bent over and removed them. Fynn had never considered a back sexy, but Ayden’s was pure perfection.

He’d never had anyone undress like this for him and, in all honesty, felt a bit embarrassed to have such attention aimed his way. It was as if Fynn had his own private show, an intimate seduction with nothing but his pleasure in mind.

Shoving to his elbows, Fynn found his gaze riveted to his mate’s groin. He felt like a kid staring into a big glass window of a candy store, salivating at the treat in front of him, desperate to slide that sweetness into his mouth or, in this case, his ass, but the mouth was a sure bet as well.

Turning, Ayden glanced over his shoulder and gave Fynn a wicked grin, his eyes sparkling with mischief. Fynn’s breath caught before he groaned.

“Stop teasing me. You’re going to make me come before anything gets started.” He was panting as he said it, licking his lips. He decided to get things moving faster by palming his cock in his hand and stroking it slowly, giving a show of his own.

It was a ballsy move, and Fynn had never done this in front of anyone before, but it was also exhilarating, too. Especially the way Ayden was watching him with pure lust in his eyes.

He got off the bed and stood behind Ayden. Fynn began to kiss the man’s back, slowly, using his tongue and lips. He licked Ayden’s spine and pressed his hands over the man’s rounded ass, massaging the cheeks before using the tips of his fingers to ghost over his lover’s skin.

Ayden moaned as he jerked slightly. Fynn smiled as he worked his way downward, keeping the kisses, as well as his touch, light. He used his tongue to trace the fine lines and muscled dips, teasing the man’s balls as he reached between Ayden’s legs. His mate began to quiver.

It was exciting to watch how his mate reacted to his touch, but honestly, Fynn had no flipping clue what he was doing. He was going off pure instinct and prayed Ayden didn’t realize how much of a newbie Fynn was at this.

Fynn licked, sucked, and kissed his way around to Ayden’s front before he dropped to his knees and took the man’s long, thick cock into his mouth. They both moaned at the same time. Ayden’s hands clamped down on Fynn’s head as he rocked in and out of Fynn’s mouth.