STORY EXCERPT

"Excuse me, boy? My glass is still empty!"

"Coming! I'm very sorry, my lady, but I'm coming as soon as I can."

Trevor Reiner grabbed the nearest wine glass, filling it with chilled blood. The delivery truck had come in late, one of the cooks was off sick, and he wasn't even supposed to be here today. It was his night off.

Supposedly.

But when he was called in to work in the Starosta house for a big event, it was kind of a stupid idea to say no if he wanted to keep his job.

So he ran around like a chicken with his head cut off, trying to keep drops of blood from getting on his white gloves.

Martin caught his eye, his mouth tightening a little as he struggled to hold in his annoyance with the people he served.

Trevor knew how the other man felt, and while they couldn’t say anything, couldn’t even roll their eyes, at least he wasn’t alone as he worked.

His button-down shirt was black, his tie a bright red, but the gloves he, Martin, and the other servers wore were meant to be white.To symbolize how clean his hands were, how he was not dipping into the food or the blood. Cleanliness was valued above all, especially now that vampires didn’t have to drink from the throats of humans.

They liked to pretend that had never happened in their history.

The vampires of the ton were a little particular when it came to that sort of thing, and considering the eldest son of the royal family was going to be choosing his wife soon, anyone who was anyone was in this ballroom.

It was hot, even with so many cool bodies, it was loud, and Trevor couldn’t move fast enough.

A space had been put off to the side for the live music. Humans who played the harp, the piano, and the violin. The music played softly, so he didn't understand the point, but supposedly, vampires had a distinct level of hearing.

They could make out the softest sounds from a mile away. It was no wonder they thought humans were disgusting.

If Trevor could hear every soft fart some guy or girl tried to sneak by, ever burp, or any sort of expulsion of gas, he'd think they were pretty gross, too.

He went to the next table with his cart. He wasn't even serving the food. He was just there to take away empty plates, keep the ice trays filled, and the glasses full.

Vampires, especially the elite vampires, didn't like it when their blood was running low.

And Trevor, being a human among them, wanted to keep them as full of other people’s blood as much as possible.

He looked to the table at the head of the room. Jarek Starosta and his wife, Mila, sat in the center. The smiles on their faces and sashes across their chests made them look exactly the way a royal should look.

Vampire royals of the United States. Not in an official way, but everyone knew who actually ran the country.

The sort of money they had wasn't the kind that could be ignored, and with enough friends and relatives in politics, it was easy to forget that America still elected a president every four years.

The interesting part was all the reporters and photographers bustling around. As many journalists had been invited to the event as noble vampires.

And tonight was supposed to be the night when the votes were counted for their next commander-in-chief.

Trevor wouldn't be shocked if tonight's event got more coverage than that simple matter.

The Starostas' younger child, their daughter, Lidia, positively preened, her tiara sparkling, and she smiled prettily for the camera.

Everyone in the country was a little taken with her. Trevor had to admit he liked her, too.

Her smile didn't look forced or the smile of someone who was searching around the room, wondering what all these nice people around her could do for her.

She was beautiful, though a little old for Trevor at seventy-five.

Not yet ready to find her spouse yet. She'd need another seventy-five years for that, but supposedly her parents were considering to let her marry twenty-five years earlier since her popularity was so high.

The one man in middle of it all was Ludwick. This was his engagement party.

He looked the most unaffected and bored by this whole thing.

He wasn't even drinking blood. He drank champagne from a glass.

A glass that another servant quickly stepped in to refill. The man's glass of blood was hardly touched.

The guy was a living, breathing porcelain statue. He was good-looking, despite almost being a ghost. Skin so pale and white he could literally be a corpse. But he breathed. His eyes looked around with the clarity of someone who was alive.

If he drank more blood, he wouldn't be so pale.

The interesting thing about him was his hair. So pale it was damn near white.

Trevor grabbed another glass to fill, nodding politely in apology to the woman who complained about how long it had taken him to get to her.

Trevor was pretty sure Ludwick didn't have that kind of hair because he didn't drink a lot of blood. From what he understood, it was a natural thing and Ludwick's hair color didn't stem from avoiding blood. Some vampires just didn't have the pigment when they were born. It was supposed to be a strange form of albinism.

But for vampires.

And of course, on Ludwick, it had to highlight his features.

The guy was better looking than all the vampires in this room combined.

And Trevor was pretty sure the other man knew it.

Vampires didn't burn in the sun like the old offensive myths from last century, but for a guy like Ludwick, it might as well be true. He couldn't so much as step out into the light without blistering up.

And now he was getting married to someone he clearly didn't want.

Trevor had to admit he felt bad for the guy. It was difficult to feel bad for a rich man who never had to worry about his grocery budget, but there it was.

ADULT EXCERPT

Though Ludwick worked fast, his fingernails never scraped at Trevor's skin, never cut him.

He was glad for that. Some vampires went a little too far with the blood play, and Trevor was in no mood to learn what his pain tolerance was in bed.

Didn't mean he didn't keep an eye on the other man, just in case.

And Ludwick sure as hell was something to keep an eye on. Even in the barely there light of his dark bedroom, he was something as he kissed his way down Trevor's stomach, his fingers playing at the trail of hair that moved from his belly button to his crotch, and Trevor's heartbeat sped up when Ludwick took Trevor's cock in hand, stroking it, before his mouth was about to—

Trevor grabbed his shoulder. "Stop."

Ludwick looked up at him, a look on his face that showed his disbelief.

"You're not about to tell me that you don't want me to go down on you."

"Uh, well no. I mean, I do want you to do it. A lot."

"Good."

Trevor stopped him again. "But wait, isn't that, like, bad? Aren't you supposed to be…I don't know, not into that kind of thing?"

Ludwick looked up at him. "Are you seriously about to tell me you believe I wouldn't want to suck your dick, or that I shouldn't, because I am higher up the ladder than you are?"

"You're not just higher up the ladder. You're so far into the sky I can barely see you."

Ludwick glared at him. "I didn't bring you in here so you could kiss my ass like the others. You don't believe for one second that I am too good to be giving you a blow job, so stop pretending."

Trevor looked at the man, really looked at him.

He seemed serious. He really did hate the vampire snobbery he lived with.

It was kind of exciting to realize.

"All right then, you can go ahead."

Ludwick rolled his eyes. "So romantic."

He looked as though he was about to pull back and get up, but Trevor grabbed his shoulders, stopping him from going anywhere.

"Put your mouth back on my cock and suck on it. Now."

Ludwick looked at him, and he smiled, their eyes holding focus with each other as he settled himself back down between Trevor's knees, and this time, Trevor didn't stop him as the other man let his tongue slide out and lick around the head of his cock.

Trevor hissed. His toes curled, and he found himself arching his back on the bed as though he were some sort of cat.

Ludwick didn't waste too much time messing around with Trevor either. He sank his mouth down quickly, as though he couldn't wait to take all of him in.

And Trevor moaned. A guttural sound that he couldn't keep back as he pushed his fingers through Ludwick's hair, trying to pull the man down deeper around his dick.

"That's it."

Ludwick was…shockingly good at this. Trevor expected to feel a bit of teeth, for Ludwick to barely get his mouth down around the head of Trevor's prick, but no, he moved his mouth and tongue as though he'd been at this for a while.

And Trevor was a little jealous of that skill.

The man tightened his mouth every time he pulled back before softly sinking back down. Trevor never tried so hard to keep a handle on his breathing, but watching the base of his prick appear and disappear between those perfectly pale lips just made the pleasure that much better.

He knew he was going to be expected to do this with Ludwick, to go down on him. He just hoped the other man had enough patience to space out because there was no way Trevor would be able to perform to these same standards.

But then he forgot all about the worrying idea that he would be expected to perform at all as Ludwick tightened his mouth around Trevor's cock and his hands gripped at Trevor's hips and the back of his ass, so hard that there was no way in hell Trevor could stop himself from fucking into those perfect lips.

"If…if I feel a hint of your teeth…no more," he threatened with a gasp, his toes curling as Ludwick used his tongue to play at the underside of Trevor's cock-head.

For some reason, he was only just reminded that the other man had fangs.

Ludwick looked up at him and winked, but then he got back to work, bobbing his head back and forth at a lazy pace, tightening his cheeks, his hand gentle massaging Trevor's testicles until the building pleasure was too much for him to handle.

Trevor groaned. He wanted to warn Ludwick, but he couldn't.

And he came. Hard. It was a struggle. Trevor wanted so badly to hold it back. He wanted this to go on. He didn't want to come so soon, but there was no holding something like that.