STORY EXCERPT

Amber eyes twinkled as Igorian groaned and turned away. Pan knew exactly what he was thinking. Igorian just knew it. The man had some sort of unnatural hold over him and damned if Igorian could figure out how to stop it. He had even considered going to Glitter Glow Park and asking the fae to break whatever spell Pan had placed on him.

He just hadn’t been able to go through with it.

Igorian snagged another champagne flute from a passing waiter and replaced it with his empty one. He swallowed down the entire contents of the glass in one long swig then quickly grabbed another one before the server could move away.

He’d grab the entire tray if he thought he could get away with it. Crimson Cristal was some of the best blood he had ever tasted. Too bad the damn stuff was so pricey. At fifty thousand dollars per crate—with a crate only holding six bottles—the champagne was too expensive to waste.

Igorian groaned when his friend Cass A. Nova slid up next to him and bumped shoulders. “Hey, Cass.” He glanced to the other side of the man, the empty side. “No date?”

Cass shrugged. “I know everyone here.”

“And?”

Cass’s face flushed. “No and. I just know everyone here. I’m more interested in finding someone new.”

You mean someone that hasn’t heard your lame pickup lines. Igorian almost said his thoughts out loud. Only good manners, an abhorrence of making his friend feel bad, and not enough alcohol kept his mouth shut.

“Well, good luck with that.”

“Who needs luck?” Cass flashed a big smile. “I have charm.”

No he didn’t, but so far, no one had been brave enough to tell the vampire that his pickup lines sucked. Cass was a pretty big dude, much bigger than Igorian. Telling him he had a better chance of scoring some ass if he kept his big trap shut just didn’t seem to be in Igorian’s best interests. He preferred his head to be attached to his shoulders.

Of course, if Cass just stood there with his mouth shut, he’d get enough guys crawling all over him to keep him knee-deep in cuties for a month. He was a stunning man…right up until he opened his mouth.

Igorian started looking around for another waiter. He was too sober for this shit. “I need more champagne.”

“Right,” Cass snorted, “because the last time you got rip-roaring drunk worked out so well for you.”

“Shut up!” Igorian snarled, his skin flushing deep red, which wasn’t too hard to do considering how pale his skin naturally was. He passed for undead with the best of them. “I thought we agreed never to talk about that again.”

The one person he had to pour his heart out to about that night had to be the one with the biggest mouth in the entire coven. What kind of idiot was he?

“No.” Cass nudged his champagne flute toward Igorian. “You agreed to never talk about it again. I agreed not to tell you what an idiot you were.”

Igorian frowned. “Gee, thanks.”

“Yeah, no problem.”

Igorian glowered at Cass. “Why are we friends again?”

Cass’s rich laughter circled around them, drawing more than one glance from those in hearing distance. “Because you adore me.”

“No, I don’t.”

Cass’s red eyes twinkled as he bent his head down and rested it on Igorian’s slim shoulder, fluttering his eyelashes wildly. “Yes, you do.”

Blink, blink.

Igorian rolled his eyes as he turned his head, the smile threatening to curve up his lips pissing him off almost as much as the laughter that was trying to fight its way free. “You’re incorrigible.”

Cass’s long eyelashes fluttered again. “But I’m cute.”Igorian snickered. He couldn’t not laugh at the simpering puppy-dog look on Cass’s face.

How a man of his muscular stature could make himself look so unthreatening was beyond Igorian. Or maybe it was just him. Cass was his best bud. Igorian was more afraid of spiders…’cause they were really gross and stuff.

“Oh, he’s cuter than me.” Cass was standing up straight and taking off before Igorian could even figure out who the vampire was talking about.

Igorian just stood there and watched Cass work his magic, and then watched the little cutie he had honed in on roll his eyes and walk away. And that would be Cass A. Nova’s magic. It got him every damn time.

“He’ll never be able to satisfy you like I can.”

Igorian’s throat thickened on one breath as rough words were purred into his ear. How Pan had snuck up behind him he would never know. He had been hyperaware of the panther since he arrived at the party.

“Go away,” Igorian growled under his breath as he tried to see if anyone was looking in his direction. He didn’t want anyone knowing he even knew Pan Thyr, let alone that he had slept with the guy.

“Kiss me first.”

“No!”

Warm breath blew across the side of his neck. There was a slight tug on a strand on his long ink-black hair. A warm body pressed up so close behind him that Igorian could feel Pan’s hard erection pressing against his butt.

He almost melted into the floor as desire swept over him.

“I am not going to kiss you.”

“You want to, beautiful. You know you do.”

ADULT EXCERPT

Just as Igorian started past the doors leading out of the ballroom, he was grabbed and pressed back into the shadows of an alcove just off of the hallway. Warm breath blew down on his face. An even warmer body pressed him into the wall.

That was another thing that Igorian had learned on his one night of indiscretion. Panthers ran warm. For a vampire who was always cold, it was like pressing his body against a live furnace.

It was glorious.

Pan captured his lips in that very moment, stealing all thoughts from Igorian’s head just as he stole the breath from Igorian’s lungs. He groaned into the kiss as Pan’s thick sultry scent filled every pore in his body. The kiss was brutal, crushing, and Igorian could taste the metallic flavor of blood in his mouth.

Pan gripped Igorian’s shirt, an animalistic sound rumbling in his throat as he tried to pull himself closer. Pan was branding him, making his own claim, and Igorian was so turned on that he was about to explode in his slacks.

“That’s right, kitten,” Pan growled into his ear, “purr for me.”

“Fuck you!”

“So graphic.” Pan chuckled into Igorian’s mouth as he kissed him. He groaned as Pan’s hand wrapped around his neck, his thumb caressing behind his ear. Pan growled into Igorian’s mouth as his tongue traced along Igorian’s bottom lip, making his entire body shiver with need. “Submit to me, Igorian.”

Igorian swallowed around the dry lump in his throat.

Should he?

Could he?

Hell, yes!

“I need skin.” Pan’s voice was strained, almost as if he were just as desperate as Igorian was to feel their skin collide.

He captured Igorian’s lips in that very moment, stealing all thoughts from his head just as he stole the breath from Igorian’s lungs. He groaned into the kiss as Pan’s musky scent filled every pore in his body.

The kiss was hot, a savoring caress as Pan kissed his breath away. Pan’s kisses grew more demanding, more savage. Igorian reveled in his passion, his breath catching as the sexy panther kissing him even deeper.

Igorian wiggled against Pan when he felt the man pulling at his clothes, an animalistic sound rumbling deep in his throat. Igorian was desperate to feel Pan’s large, thick cock in his ass, and to hell with whoever might catch them.

Igorian swallowed around the dry lump in his throat as he tilted his head back and allowed Pan to nibble down the arch of his neck. Pan was branding him, making his own claim, and Igorian was so turned on that he was about to explode in his slacks.

Once Pan had his shirt ripped open, he began to work on Igorian’s pants. Igorian just stood there and allowed the panther to undress him. Pan’s movements were wild, unforgiving, and dared Igorian to interfere.

Igorian wasn’t stupid. He wanted the gorgeous shifter.

Pan dropped to his knees and reached for him, spinning Igorian around to face the wall.Igorian cried out when he felt a finger rim around his asshole. A slight pressure applied, and then Pan’s finger sank in deep.

Igorian panted heavily, wanting to feel more but needing a minute to adjust. He wasn’t sure whether to scream time-out or push back on the invasion. Igorian cried out whenPan added a second finger.

When Pan’s hand began to move, Igorian bit his lip to stifle his outcry of delight. His heart seemed to rush to every spot Pan touched. Igorian didn’t know his body was so sensitive to Pan’s caress until it happened, and then he could only beg for more.

“Pan, please.”

He looked up and his pulse beat more rapidly at the intensity he could see in his lover’s eyes. Pan seemed to have eyes only for him. Igorian had to believe that it was true. The need mirrored in Pan’s eyes couldn’t be faked.

There was just no way.

Pan’s lips covered Igorian’s mouth with a hunger that made Igorian melt against the man. His kiss was surprisingly gentle despite the strong hardness of Pan’s lips. Igorian groaned, giving himself freely to the passion he could feel in it, the need.

A hot ache grew in Igorian’s throat. He needed more than a kiss, as earth-moving as it was. He needed to feel Pan’s body pressed against his, to feel the man’s naked skin. Pan suddenly tore his mouth away from Igorian’s and looked at him.

Their eyes locked as their breathing came in unison, hot and heavy. Igorian’s breathing stuttered in his chest. The closeness of their bodies was like a drug to Igorian, lulling him into a passionate euphoria.

Pan began thrusting his fingers in and out of Igorian’s tight ass. Igorian’s senses leapt and a delicious shudder heated his body. Igorian whimpered again when Pan’s hand slid down his thighs and then over his ass. His fingers massaged Igorian’s butt, making Igorian pant heavily with need.

He wanted.

He wanted desperately.

He took in deep and ragged breaths, biting hard into his bottom lip as he whimpered. The building sensations were sweeping through Igorian, buzzing through his mind, his senses exploding with greedy lust until he thought he would go mad.

Igorian’s body arched into the panther’s as Pan stroked him, every inch of him hypersensitive and greedy for his touch. Igorian couldn’t get close enough, couldn’t hold Pan tight enough. He was desperate, a coil of need tightening inside of him.

Pan leaned back, nipping Igorian’s shoulder. Igorian shuddered as Pan grabbed his bottom and lifted him up, separating his mounds before lining his cock up. Igorian inhaled sharply as he felt Pan’s large cock enter him.

Igorian wailed Pan’s name as the panther pushed past the clenching muscles, stretching Igorian as his cock began to pick up a rhythm. He writhed under Pan, fighting to accept the ample width of male flesh impaling him.

A slender, delicate thread began to form between them with every thrust. Igorian had longed for someone for longer than he could remember. He felt special, cherished. He felt wanted.

“More, Pan,” Igorian whispered as he pushed back against Pan. “I want more.”

He wanted everything!

Pan started moving faster, harder. One of his hands clenched around Igorian’s thigh. The other one grabbed a handful of Igorian’s hair at the nape of his neck and tilted his head back, exposing his throat.

Pan’s teeth latched onto the exposed skin and Igorian went wild. The combination of Pan’s cock pounding into his ass and the teeth at his throat were enough to send Igorian’s senses swirling out of control.

“Breathe, kitten.”

Igorian chuckled. “Can’t.”

Pan grinned and started moving. Igorian barely had time to draw in a deep breath before Pan slammed hard and deep inside him. He didn’t start out slow, instead going straight to pounding into Igorian as fast and as hard as he could.

The scent of blood filled the air, and Igorian realized that his claws had extended and even now dug into Pan’s tanned skin. It only seemed to heighten both of their arousals, pushing them together and melding their souls.