STORY EXCERPT

“I think this is where I leave you,” Cash said from behind him. Slowly, almost seductively, he reached into Cedric’s pocket and extracted his cell phone. After a few rhythmic beeps, he pressed it back into Cedric’s hand. “Now you have my number. Think about what I said and call me when you feel like you’re ready to talk.”

He was being so damn nice, which was just confusing Cedric further. And the guy had dimples, for crying out loud! What kind of homicidal monster had dimples? His bright smile was more charming than Cedric cared to admit, especially with the lack of fangs he knew the guy sported when he got all blood-lusty.

Cash was trying so very hard, and the least Cedric could do was give him a chance. They were mates after all. He didn’t know about vampires, but cat shifters only got one shot at the whole eternal bond thing. “Let me give you my number.”

His mate’s smile widened as he pulled his own phone from his pocket and passed it over. “I promise to let you make the first move.”

Cedric would believe that when he saw it, but to say so out loud would be unkind. So he just smiled in return, punched in his digits, and handed the phone back to Cash. “I just need some time to think.” Time away from Cash’s delicious scent and the way his very presence seemed to make the air around them sizzle. Sizzling air was too distracting for him to think coherently.

With a great deal of care, Cash cupped the side of Cedric’s face and brushed a thumb over his cheek. He didn’t come any closer, though. For a long time they stood in the circle of light on Cedric’s porch and just looked into each other’s eyes. Gods, Cash had the greenest eyes he’d ever seen, like the color of fresh spring grass with little flecks of dark brown around the pupils.

They were hypnotizing, holding Cedric immobile and unable to look away from the penetrating stare. He wasn’t sure what the vampire was searching for, but the look in his eyes was a little too probing. Could he see down to Cedric’s soul? Once he had everything bared before him, would Cash use those things against him?

There were too many questions that lacked adequate answers. As much as Cedric wanted to pull away and run into the safety of his home, he still couldn’t move. His fingers twitched at his sides, and he fought against the desire to reached up and lace them through Cash’s thick, black hair. Maybe a little touch wouldn’t be so bad, just a caress of the locks that brushed over the vampire’s shoulders. He really wanted to know if the strands felt as silky as they looked.

Before his body could rebel against what his mind said was a bad idea, Cash dipped his head, leaning forward to touch his lips to Cedric’s forehead. It was so soft, barely a ghost of a touch, but it sent electricity sparking throughout his entire body. So easy. It would be so easy to fall into the promises that simple touch offered.

“Good night, Cedric,” Cash whispered against his brow. Then he was gone, moving quicker than Cedric’s eyes could follow.

Stepping into his house, Cedric moved in a daze, his mind reeling with all the events that had happened that night. It was good that Cash had left. He told himself that he needed time to work out what was real and what was fabricated by the desire he felt to mate with the man simply because of their natures.

That was what he told his overactive libido. Now he just had to make himself believe it.

“Hello, Mr. Barrows.”

Pausing just inside his entryway with his hand still on the doorknob, the first thing that concerned Cedric was that someone was in his home. The second thought that occurred to him was that he’d just heard the stranger’s voice inside his head.

Releasing his death grip on his door, he turned slowly, surprised to find the cable repairman who’d come to fix his DVR the previous day. Well, he supposed that explained how the man had garnered an invitation into his home. What was the world coming to when it wasn’t even safe to let the cable guy in?

“Don’t scream,” the man warned him, the words slipping into his mind instead of being spoken aloud. He smiled brightly at Cedric, showing off his elongated canines.

Vampire. Short, spiky hair, bright green eyes, more muscles than a defensive line, and stunning good looks that would put the most highly paid romance cover model to shame, the vampire definitely wasn’t what Cedric expected a killer to look like. He had no doubt that was exactly what the man was, though. Why else would he be lurking in Cedric’s house and telling him not to scream?

So, with that understanding, his next question was kind of stupid. “Are you going to kill me?”

“Oh, no, little one.” The vampire’s voice was smooth, rich, and almost hypnotic. “You, my friend, are a very important part of the plan.”

Cedric didn’t know what that meant, and he didn’t get a chance to ask. His attacker was on him before he could suck in his next breath, pinning him to the door while those long, vicious fangs sank unmercifully into his neck.

Surprisingly, the vampire didn’t drain him, but he did take enough for Cedric to feel weak and shattered, unable to fight back. A large, cool palm pressed to the center of his brow, holding his head firmly against the wood behind him.

“What are you doing?” he slurred, trying desperately to keep his eyes open against the drowsiness he felt.

“Shh, little kitty. Don’t fight it.” The stranger’s eyes rolled back in his head, and he mumbled words in a language Cedric didn’t understand. “Almost done.”

ADULT EXCERPT

Lifting up on his elbows with the intentions of rolling Cash to his back, Cedric moved a bit too quickly and ended up smacking their foreheads together. “Oww!” Well, that had been smooth.

Cash barely paid attention, shaking it off quickly and diving back into the kiss. Assured that he hadn’t screwed everything up, Cedric tried once again to roll his mate, but this time crushed their mouths together rather than their heads. The coppery taste of blood trickled over his tongue, and his bottom lip stung like crazy.

Groaning in defeat, he dropped back to the pillow and threw his forearm over his eyes. “I quit. I suck at this.”

A warm, slippery tongue licked over his wound, soothing it and cleaning the blood away. Perks of mating a vampire. The snick of a bottle cap caught his attention, and he jerked his arm away from his eyes—only to have his knuckles graze across Cash’s temple, making him grunt in pain.

“Oh, just fucking shoot me.” He’d never been so clumsy outside of the bedroom, but he was doing a spectacular job of it now.

Cash chuckled as he urged Cedric’s legs apart and pushed his knees toward his chest. “Relax, darlin’. Just be still for a while and let me do the work.”

What choice did he have? Every move he made ended up getting one or both of them beat up like a punching bag. The movies made it look so natural, like everyone was born to be a porn star. Cedric wanted to sue for false advertising, because this was anything but easy.

A slick finger prodded at his opening, applying steady, gentle pressure that his virgin hole shied away from instantly. Cash didn’t stop, though. He simply continued ringing the guarding muscles while he laved kisses down Cedric’s torso. Then that very talented mouth captured the head of his cock, surrounding it in the most glorious heat he’d ever felt.

His hips arched, pushing his throbbing length farther into Cash’s mouth at the same moment that thick digit pushed into his entrance. Oh, sweet baby Jesus, it was too much. Sweat beaded across his body, his belly tightened, and a barrage of sensations battered against him.

Cash moved his hand and mouth in tandem, dragging his lips up Cedric’s shaft as his finger plunged into his body. A second finger was added to his clenching channel, stretching him wider, but Cedric barely even felt the burn through the overwhelming pleasure.

When yet another finger plunged into his hole, Cedric gritted his teeth and fisted his hands in the sheets at his sides, trying frantically to keep his orgasm at bay. Cash wasn’t making it easy on him, though. In fact, his lover seemed intent on torturing him until he begged for mercy. If begging was what Cash wanted, Cedric was more than willing to oblige.

“Please! Oh, fuck, damn. I can’t. I need. Cash!” Okay, a bit incoherent, perhaps, but surely he’d gotten his point across.

Cash’s fingers slipped from his hole, his mouth popped off of Cedric’s cock, and he chuckled hoarsely. “Tell me what you need, baby.”

“You. I need you, Cash. Now, stop messing around and just fuck me.”

“No toppin’ from the bottom, brat.”

“I don’t even know what that means.” He barely knew his own name in that moment. His entire universe centered around the beautiful cock jutting from Cash’s groin while his lover stroked the rigid flesh from base to crown, slicking it with lube.

“Flip over. Hands and knees.”

If Cash had told him to stand on his head and suck his thumb, he’d have done it happily if it meant the mind-numbing pleasure would continue. In his eagerness to comply, his inner klutz made another appearance and his heel connectedly solidly with Cash’s hipbone. “Crap, I’m sorry.”

“Shh, it doesn’t matter.” His lover’s arm looped around him, and his back was covered by Cash’s warm weight. The soft ends of his black hair tickled over Cedric’s shoulder, and moist breath puffed against the nape of his neck. “You are so very perfect.”

The spongy tip of Cash’s dick pressed at his hole, and to Cedric’s surprise, he didn’t tense this time. Instead, he rocked backward, silently offering his approval and acceptance. He wanted this. His cat wanted this. And as long as they were on the same page, everything would be fine.

“Breathe,” Cash whispered into his ear, holding him even closer as he slowly worked his way inside Cedric’s yielding passage until he bottomed out.

Surprisingly, the burn was minimal, the fullness felt amazing, and all Cedric wanted was more. “Move. Please, move.”

Cash’s thrusts were slow and steady, his hips moving in gentle waves as he allowed Cedric to become accustomed to the invasion. Raw, animalistic emotions flowed off of him like a tangible force, blanketing Cedric and warming him from the outside in.

His inner walls contracted around Cash’s thick cock, massaging it and causing his lover to growl loudly as the rhythm increased. The faster he moved, the harder he plunged into Cedric’s body, the more the emotions flowed off of him and into Cedric—feeding him, fueling him, and increasing the ecstasy he felt.

His lover’s hold on him never loosened, even when the snap of his hips became untamed and erratic. Cedric’s balls rolled inside his tight sac, his dick jerked hard, and tiny explosions rocked his body, sending lights flashing before his eyes.