STORY EXCERPT

There was almost nothing in the world more satisfying than throwing a screeching vampire out into the sun to watch them burn. Sometimes, James wished he planned a little more for these events.

Like bringing marshmallows and hot dogs.

That sounded amazing. He really needed to do that one day. Have a proper camp out with Don. They could set up a tent and everything.

But no. At least not right now. There was too much work to be done, and this nest had gone undetected for way too long. Austen Manor. Christ, how had they not seen that coming?

“I got another one,” Don said, dragging a few more vampires behind him. Two in one hand and one in the other, but they appeared already dead.

Don was a little more merciful to the bloodsuckers when it came to this sort of thing. He liked to put them down before giving them their sunbath, though he was a warrior through and through. He could battle it out with the best of them and come out bloody and still swinging.

But he didn’t want to admit that he had a soft spot.

Which was probably why James loved the man so damned much.

Don walked ten feet into the light before he threw his catch onto the lawn with the others. He wiped off his hands on his trousers, shaking out his fingers.

“Did it burn?” James asked, only being a little sarcastic as he took the man’s hand into his and pressed a kiss to the knuckles.

Don yanked his hand away, but the blush forming on his face was evident. He was heavily embarrassed by public shows of affection, which James took advantage of as much as he possibly could. He liked to tease his younger mate, after all. It was too much fun that he just couldn’t not do it.

Fitz appeared in the doorway, arms up on the frame, a smirk on his face. “If the lovebirds please, we still need a sweep of the house.”

James winked at his mate, heading back. “Yes, yes, we’re coming.”

“Are we sure there’s more? We checked almost everywhere,” Don said.

He wasn’t one to usually suggest leaving before every precaution had been taken. He must really be tired. The man had caught dragon fever almost three months ago, and he was still getting over it.

Dragon fever was a strange illness to have. Dragons were known to be well attuned with their mates, sometimes to the point of becoming heavily ill when the other was ill or in distress. Since James hadn’t contracted the illness, Don had probably caught it after flying too long, too high up where it was colder.

But since his mate suffered, he suffered, too.

“I'm sure we’re almost finished,” James said. “You can head on back without me and get the report started if you need to rest.” Don glared at him for that one. James just shrugged. “Was just an offer.”

The man growled a little under his breath, and as though making a point, he stuck close to James’s side as they searched the rest of the home.

It was a vast house. A mansion.

It looked like it would have been a nice place to live, had it not been infested with vampires. The few humans who were left were being rounded up by Mason and Vanko. They were a sobbing mess as both dragons took their statements.

It was just about time to call the human police and let them deal with the rest, but James was still angry with himself. If he’d only known, if he’d seen this coming sooner, he could have prevented their suffering.

Don seemed to realize this.

“You did everything for them you could.”

James shook his head, heading up the spiral staircase with his mate next to him. “What I did clearly wasn’t enough.”

Don grabbed his shoulder and squeezed. James knew they were going to be discussing this at length later on, but for now, he was grateful for the support of his mate.

They checked the bedrooms, ignoring the stench of blood all around. The vampires had been feeding on quite a few of those humans, and from the look of the stains in one of the parlors, a few of them had been killing each other, as well. Vampire blood had a nasty habit of becoming so thin it was practically water, especially if the vampires hadn’t drank in a while.

They checked every walk-in closet, behind every door, inside every bathroom, and under every bed. By the time they made it to the last bedroom, James was ready to call it quits.

“I think we’re good,” James said, though at this point he was just as eager to leave as Don was. He wanted to draw his mate a bath, put him to bed, and if Don was up for it, fuck lazily before pulling his mate to him for a snuggle.

James was a snuggler.

But Don had his head tilted to the side in a way that suggested he was listening for something.

And that made James stand up a little straighter, as well.

“What is it?” He came to stand next to the man, also listening for whatever it was that had Don’s attention.

Don shook his head, and then he looked toward what appeared to be a little cupboard.

But no, it wasn’t a cupboard.

James took one look at it and knew what it was—a dumbwaiter used by servants and residents of the home to deliver meals from the kitchen or notes to other servants.

They used to be more common when he was a child. James couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed it before, and now that he started to listen, as well, he could make out the exact thing Don was picking up on.

Don gestured to the elevator. James nodded, following after the other man as they slowly crept up to the thing. They were good at being silent when they needed to be, both men pulling their blades from their holsters, just in case there was some sort of struggle.

They stood on either side of the door. James could make out no sounds that the rope was being moved and the elevator rising or falling.

James and Don looked at each other, nodding as James reached for the handle. He slid it open quickly, but there was no attack, though the person inside tried to move the elevator, to bring himself out of the way of danger.

Too little, too late, asshole, James thought with a smirk as he snatched the man’s throat.

He already got the stench of vampire off him, but there was something else there as well as he tossed the creature to the floor.

It hissed, crab-walking backward before rising to its feet and taking a defensive stance. Its skin was pale, the bite marks on the side of its throat apparent with the loose neck of the shirt.

Which was when James’s heart ached for him.

This had once been human.

Oh fuck. God, no. Humans transforming into vampires was rare. The blood type had to be just right, and they had to survive all the biting.

If this happened, it was because of him. James hadn’t taken down the nest fast enough.

“Stay the fuck away from me,” said the vampire, clenching his fists, as though that would keep James away from him if he really wanted to hurt the man.

He would have to. Wouldn’t he?

James had only ever put down one other human-turned-vampire before, and only because the creature had gone on a bloodthirsty rampage.

Don stepped forward. James grabbed his shoulder. “Don’t.”

Don didn’t look back at him. He stared at the vampire as though he were looking at a ghost. James couldn’t account for it, but it didn’t matter when Don gently pulled his shoulder away from the other man.

He took another step forward. The vampire stepped back, staring at Don with suspicion in his eyes. James didn’t understand it, and then he was a little bit scared for his mate when Don dropped the knife in his hand.

James tensed. “Don! What the hell are you…” He trailed off when Don stepped toward the other man, cupped the vampire’s face in his hands, and kissed him on the mouth.

The air was sucked directly out of James’s lungs. He watched his mate, the man he’d loved for well over fifty years, kissing another man.

And a vampire at that.

ADULT EXCERPT

Charlie didn’t know who these guys were, and it alarmed him a little that his body responded to them like a druggie that had just received a fix, but his brain quickly took a back seat as the kissing, the heat of the dragon males surrounding him, became too much for his body to bear.

His body never felt this good before, not with the few lovers he’d had, and definitely not when he’d been in this house. Killing his kidnappers had felt pretty good, but that was nothing compared to this, and Charlie had thought destroying those pricks would be the highlight of his life.

No. The real highlight was the way the nerve endings in his body seemed to erupt with a fireworks display on whichever spot each man kissed him.

And they kissed him all over.

On his shoulders, his throat, over his bite marks, his belly. There was some hesitation when they moved around to his back, and it took Charlie a second to remember the scars.

They were probably really ugly, barely scars since most were still healing, but thankfully, the sight of them wasn’t enough to ruin the mood as both men continued to press heated kisses across his skin.

It was as if they were thirsty, and the only way to quench it was to kiss as much of Charlie’s body as they could reach.

He wasn’t sure if this made much sense, but whatever. It was sure as hell making him feel good, so he wasn’t about to question it too much.

They pushed him toward the enormous canopy bed.

It was a bed for esteemed guests, one of the many rooms used for such a luxury. Of course, it was empty, because there were more rooms in this damned house than there could be vampires’ friends.

Charlie and the other feeders and servants had been forced to sleep in the halls, on floors or tables in or around the kitchen, meanwhile there had been a dozen or more beds that looked like this open for anyone to take.

He’d slept in one just like it when he’d killed the lord and lady of the manor, but it was different when he fell onto these sheets with two dragon males who had their hands all over him.

And his prick throbbed with each stroke, each kiss. They didn’t even have to touch his erection, the shiver he felt with each slide of their palms was more than enough for him.

At the moment.

It was as though they were building up to something better, more heated.

Well, they were all naked now, and the door was shut and locked. He supposed that was exactly what they were doing.

Charlie grunted when one of the dragons pressed their finger to his hole. He jumped a little, feeling first a cold touch, and then his body warmed more than enough to ease that sensation.

“Oh fuck,” he groaned, thrusting back against that gentle pressure.

He looked back, trying to attach a person to the arm.

It looked like the brunette that was doing it. His dark eyes were the most heated out of the two men, but even then, when the red-haired dragon stared at Charlie, it looked as though his eyes were on fire.

But dragons didn’t actually breathe fire. Did they?

Fuck, now that Charlie thought about it, they might very well be buttering him up for the kill. Dragons were sworn to kill vampires, and though Charlie had avoided the sunlight as much as possible since his bites started to feel different, he’d sensed the change in his body well enough to know what would happen if he wanted to go out into the light and get something close to a real tan.

That should have bothered him, and it did to a small extent, but as though he were in a dream, the idea was fleeting, and Charlie was back to only caring about when the red-haired man took Charlie’s cock into his powerful fist and began stroking him.

Charlie opened his mouth, releasing a garbled noise as he thrust forward, trying to fuck into that hand. All the while, he leaned back helplessly against the brunette.

Funny thing, they’d asked for his name and he’d forgotten to ask for theirs.

Damn, he was a little whore, wasn’t he? Oh well, if he was going to die, then at least he could say he was about to go out with a bang.

“God, James, he’s so fucking beautiful. Have you ever seen anyone like this?”

The red-head was named James, good to know.

James shook his head, his fist still pumping while Charlie struggled to get the other man to push those fingers inside him.

“I…I want more of it. Give it to me,” Charlie begged. He didn’t care what he happened to sound like, either.

“Soon, sweetie, soon,” said the brunette. “We’ll take good care of you from now on.”

“Don,” James said, and Charlie couldn’t tell if the man’s tone held a warning or a note of pleasure as Don gently touched the whip lines on his back.

Charlie didn’t care. “N-no, I need it now. Fuck me. Please, fuck me. I need…I need it!”

He needed it more than he needed food, water, or even blood.

Christ, Charlie had been holding off feeding on blood. He didn’t want to give the vampires the satisfaction of knowing they’d changed him, but now he really did know there was something more powerful out there. Something that he needed more than the blood that had been calling to him over the last couple of days he’d been in charge.

He needed to be fucked. He needed to be claimed. Whenever he thrust back, he could feel Don’s huge cock behind him, and while it should have scared him, he felt nothing other than the intense need to have it inside him. Stretching him wide open, touching everywhere that could be touched.