STORY EXCERPT

He glanced at the clock and then went back to the kitchen to check on his meal. When he opened the oven, Victor let out a short, high cry. The entire top was covered in what looked to be black pepper. Someone had sabotaged his meal. There was no way Colton would be able to eat this mess.

He slammed the oven door closed and marched down the hallway until he reached Riley’s room. Victor banged on the door then balled his fists at his sides. It was one thing to pick on him, but Colton’s dinner had been destroyed, and Victor had put a lot of hard work into making sure it would be perfect.

Riley swung his door opened, looked around, and then his gaze lowered, as if just realizing Victor stood there. His lip curled. “What do you want, pet?”

Victor screeched and attacked Riley, pounding his small fists into the brute. With one strong backhand from Riley, Victor slammed into the opposite wall in the hallway. The noise brought a lot of people out of their rooms and out of the common area.

It was Lucian who grabbed Riley and stopped him from pummeling Victor. “What is going on?”

Victor pushed himself off the floor and wiped the blood from his throbbing nose.

“He started it!” Riley jabbed a finger at him. “He attacked me!”

“He ruined Colton’s dinner,” Victor accused. “He poured pepper over the top of it.”

“Do you have proof it was him?” Lucian asked.

“Well…no…but…” Victor wasn’t about to tell the Master what Riley had said about Colton earlier. That was a can of worms he didn’t want to open, plus Riley would make him pay dearly later if he opened his mouth.

Like he’s not gonna make you pay for this.

Worse, because Victor was so angry, tears stung his eyes. He hated that he cried when he was that mad. That only gave Riley something else to taunt him about.

Without waiting for Lucian to punish him, Victor ran up the stairs and into the club, uncaring that he hadn’t turned the oven off. The meal was ruined anyway, and someone would eventually turn it off. All he wanted to do was get away from Riley before he got himself into further trouble by socking him on the nose.

Thankfully, the sun had set and Victor was able to leave the club. He hurried onto the street and then slowed to a normal pace. He was so upset when he crossed that he hadn’t paid attention to traffic. One second he was cursing Riley’s name, and the next, a car struck him.

Victor flew into the air and landed on his chest, the air whooshing from his lungs. Pain exploded on the right side of his body where the car had impacted him.

A guy got out of the driver’s side and rushed toward Victor. “I didn’t see you until it was too late!” He hunched down and his hand hovered close to Victor as a small crowd gathered. “You’re vampire,” he whispered. “That doesn’t matter,” he amended. “Are you okay? Do I need to take you to the club?”

The guy was talking way too fast as Victor tried to shake off the pain. He might be a vampire, but getting hit by a car hurt like hell. Until he could feed, his injuries wouldn’t heal, and damn, his side was killing him, along with a headache pounding against his skull.

“I…uh…no…no club.” He tried to get up but collapsed back to the ground, crying out in pain.

The stranger—good god he was handsome—scooped Victor up and headed for his car.

“Hey, you shouldn’t move him,” someone said from behind them. “He could have spinal injuries or something.”

The stranger ignored the shouting man as he tucked Victor into his backseat. “You’re delusional from the impact. Of course you need to get back to your coven. You need blood.”

“How do you know?” Victor found it hard to breathe, let alone talk. He was pretty sure he had a few cracked ribs and maybe a cracked hip. He just knew that his entire right side was killing him as the stranger hopped into the driver’s seat and took off.

Since Victor had been right around the corner when he’d been hit, they were at the club in seconds. The guy was also on his phone when they arrived, and to his shock, it was Colton who opened the back door of the car.

“How bad, mouse?” Concern flooded his blue eyes.

If anyone else had called Victor that demeaning name, he would’ve tried to knock them on their ass. But he knew Colton meant it as a term of endearment.

“I think the car relocated a few body parts,” Victor said as he panted.

“Let’s get you inside.”

“No.” Victor shook his head. The last thing he wanted was for the coven to see him being carried in. Vampires were all about strength, and right now Victor felt as weak as a…well, a mouse. Plus, he didn’t want to face Lucian. Victor had taken off before things with Riley could be settled, and he didn’t want to know if he would be punished.

“I’ll take you through the back,” Colton said as he lifted Victor from the seat. “No one will see you.”

Victor loved that Colton understood his need to stay away from everyone, so he stopped protesting as Colton—the stranger following behind them—took him around back and entered through the Master’s entrance.

He was taken to the office and laid on the couch as Colton’s mates gathered around him. Victor wanted to sit up, to downplay his injuries, but moving was damn near impossible.

It was Corbin, the practical vampire, that slit his wrist and fed Victor. It was an awkward moment considering Colton stood right there, but Victor wasn’t about to say no. Not when he smelled blood and his instincts took over.

He drank just enough the heal himself and then released Corbin’s wrist and closed his eyes, feeling like the world’s biggest idiot for not watching where he was going.

But as he lay there, praying everyone would leave, the sweetest smell wafted his way. Victor opened his eyes and gazed at the stranger who spoke softly to Colton.

Victor was staring at his mate.

ADULT EXCERPT

“I’ve been dying to kiss you again.” Pierce’s lips were mere inches from Victor’s. “The first time wasn’t near long enough.”

“And I’ve been dying to taste you, too.” But kissing wasn’t on Victor’s mind. He unfastened Pierce’s jeans, his fingers uncooperative as he tried to free his mate’s cock. He glanced at his mate when Pierce grabbed his wrists to stop him.

“All in good time, mouse.” Pierce slid his fingers around the hem of Victor’s shirt and removed it, letting the material fall to the floor.

Victor’s sexual encounters had been far and few. He’d been too busy keeping away from Riley and the other vampires who thought fucking with him was a sport that he hardly found the time for sex.

“So flawless.” Pierce ran his hand over Victor’s pale chest. “So perfect.”

That wasn’t the description Victor would’ve used to describe his body. He used to be tanned all the time, but since sunlight was lethal to him now, he’d grown extremely pale over the past two decades. Victor had grown used to his body, but now that Pierce was studying him, he became self-conscious as a shiver ran through him.

Until Pierce took one of Victor’s nipples between his wet, warm lips. Victor let out a hiss, his cock hardening, as he arched his back, concerned that Pierce had to practically bend in half to reach his chest but not worried enough to stop his mate.

Pierce slowly rose and took Victor’s lip in a blazing kiss as he walked backward, guiding Victor toward the bed.

Victor’s heart sped when Pierce broke from the kiss and undressed. Victor’s mouth watered as he watched. When he was done, Victor didn’t wait for an invitation. He dropped to his knees and took Pierce’s length into his mouth.

“Oh fuck.” Pierce’s hips shot forward as his hands clamped down on Victor’s head. “I’m in love with your lips,” he groaned, making Victor smile around his mate’s length.

Pierce gripped Victor’s hair and tried to ease out of his mouth, but Victor wasn’t finished having fun. He moaned and lashed his tongue over the slit in the head, making Pierce give up his attempt to dislodge his cock.

“I see you like to play dirty.”

In response, Victor slid his tongue up Pierce’s shaft. Pierce hissed and used his grip on Victor’s hair to thrust in short bursts. Victor could tell when Pierce was close. He clenched his jaw, and his movements weren’t as coordinated.

Also, his grip on Victor’s hair tightened.

It might have been his imagination, but he could’ve sworn his mate’s cock swelled right before he came. He looked up at Pierce and saw how taut his neck muscles were. His mate blinked and lowered his head, gazing down at Victor with those gorgeous green eyes as Victor pulled back, unable to look away.

Pierce slid his hand under Victor’s jaw as Victor rose to his feet. He pressed his face into Pierce’s hand and closed his eyes, letting go of a shuddering breath.

“You’re so beautiful,” Pierce whispered. He slid his arms around Victor, nuzzling his neck as Victor gasped, shivering as tiny fingers of pulsing electricity coursed through him. The feel of Pierce’s warm, bare skin, the dark, masculine scent, and the feel of his soft lips gliding over his skin had Victor panting as he gripped his mate’s biceps.

He moved backward when Pierce moved forward. His mate lifted him and placed Victor on the bed, worshipping Victor with his hands as he stared down at him as though Victor made the man’s sun rise.

No one had ever looked at him with such reverence.

In that moment Victor was pretty sure he’d fallen just a little in love with his wolf.

“Are you just gonna stare at me?” Vince teased. “Or are you gonna help me out of my clothes?”

“There’s a lot of things I plan on doing to you.” Pierce winked. “We’ll start with the clothes, then I plan on fucking you until you can’t walk.”

Vince gasped. “Then I’m all yours.”

Pierce tweaked one of Victor’s nipples. Victor moaned as he lowered himself to his back. “I got something else you can grab hold of.”

“Yeah?” One of Pierce’s brows arched. “And what’s that?”

Victor pursed his lips. “I’ll give you three guesses, but you’ll only need one.”

Pierce threw his head back and laughed. “You can’t use my own words against me.” He pulled Victor’s shoes off and tossed them aside. “Okay, my first guess is your toes.”

Victor shook his head. “Try again.” His gaze lowered to Pierce’s hard cock and Victor wasn’t sure how long he could play this game before he attacked Pierce and had his wicked way with his mate.

His socks came off next, and then Pierce reached for the waistband of Victor’s pants. “Let’s see how hard your dick is for me.”

Victor lifted his lower half so Pierce could pull his jeans and underwear down. “Believe me, my dick is hard enough to be used as a lethal weapon right about now.”

Pierce grinned boyishly as he pulled the rest of Victor’s clothes off. That gorgeous smile made Victor’s breath hitch. Maybe, finally he’d found the one person who could love him for who he was and never consider his status as a factor.

Victor spread his legs in invitation when Pierce ran his knuckles up his shaft. “Is this my prize?”

“That depends,” Victor said.

“On what?”

“What you plan on doing with my cock.”

Pierce wiggled his brows. “Why don’t I show you what I’m about to do with mine.”

His mate settled between Victor’s legs as he leaned in for a soul-stirring kiss that made Victor’s toes curl. As they devoured one another, Pierce pressed the blunt head of his cock against Victor’s hole. His mate’s natural lube spurted at his hole, relaxing Victor’s tight band of muscles.

“I’m liking where this is going,” Victor moaned.

“Trust me. It gets better.”