STORY EXCERPT

Aidan stood by the door in a traveling suit that was grossly out of fashion. Sky was struck by the difference between the two of them. Sky was the well-dressed nobleman, hosting his guest with all the stilted formality that he knew of. Aidan, on the other hand, was distinctly common. He was dressed in practical clothing with very few pieces of luggage and was probably extremely uncomfortable with the huge mansion he was to be staying at and the formality with which he was being treated. Sky wanted to smack himself in the head for his stupidity. He should’ve realized that before now. He should’ve at least made this an informal process.

“I’m not going to be happy here no matter how homey you make it,” Aidan promised, reading his mind. Sky was shocked at the ease with which he did so. “The blood we exchanged last year.” Aidan crossed his arms over his chest. Sky supposed that was a good enough explanation. “I’ve been getting your emotions for months. Anything beyond your normal range of feelings hits me like a roller coaster. Over holiday I was having dinner with my family, and I felt a spike of anger so sharp I started acting like a loon, pissed beyond belief for no bloody reason whatsoever. It’s rather disconcerting, you know.”

“I can imagine so. I do apologize for that. I was unaware that such an intense exchange was occurring. I’ll teach you to shield if you like, while you’re here,” Sky offered nervously. He came down the stairs a bit faster than was humanly possible and saw Aidan’s jaw tic in anger.

“Let’s not pretend this is a pleasant visit between friends, shall we? I am here to fulfill your condition for saving my brother and his lover. What occurred between the two of us that night will not be discussed, and under no circumstances are you to talk to me in my mind, touch my person, or interfere with my life. Got it?”

Anger spiked with each clipped tone of Aidan’s voice. “This isn’t any easier for me than it is for you, Aidan MacGregor. I wouldn’t have imagined that saving your life when you were ten would have such far-reaching consequences. If I didn’t absolutely have to ask you here, believe me, I would not have sought you out. Your reputation of blind prejudice concerning vampires is well noted. I’m attempting to make this as painless of an experience as possible for the both of us, and I would appreciate a little courtesy.” He paused as Aidan’s eyes bulged almost comically. He couldn’t resist the last jab. “And by the way, when I fed off you in London, it did happen, and I know you enjoyed it, and I will talk about it if I damn well feel like, jäger.”

Aidan dropped the bag he was carrying and tossed off his jacket with a bellow like a bull before leaping at the vampire in pure unadulterated rage. Sky squared his shoulder in preparation for the impact. Very well then, he thought with answering anger. We’ll have fisticuffs.

* * * *

Aidan drew back his fist and tried to drill it through the smirking face of the vampire. “Son of a bitch!” he screamed in the vampire’s mind. How dare he bring up his moment of weakness in such a flippant fashion? The frustrations of the past eight months couldn’t be described. Every time Sky found something that amused him, every time Sky got pissed about something, every time Sky had gotten melancholy, every time the bastard had had a bloody hard-on, Aidan had felt it. He’d spent more time in the vampire’s head than his own, and worse, he found himself liking the bastard a little more every day. By the time he’d arrived in Prussia, admiring the towering pine forests that surrounded Sky’s estate and seeing all the features of Sky’s homeland that gave the vampire joy, he’d been fighting mad. How dare he make Aidan like him against his will?

Sky’s hands clamped on Aidan’s after the first swing, and he tossed Aidan over his head like a child would a doll. He hit the wall with a thud that knocked the wind from him, and just as suddenly Sky was there, pinning him there, using his body to immobilize Aidan’s own.

“Are you done?” Sky asked, his eyes sparking with dark amusement.

“Let me up.” Aidan growled. This wasn’t like him. He was the even-tempered ice prince. He was the one who never got this upset. This vampire was changing him in ways that he was terrified of.

“If you are finished trying to get into a brawl with me, I’ll let you down.”

Aidan squirmed against his hold, unwilling to concede the point. He bucked, trying to dislodge the vampire with heaves of his torso. He managed to get a little motion going but realized his mistake when a bolt of lust hit his mind from their mind link. He froze staring into the eyes of the German vampire. Sky’s blue eyes tinged with burgundy were filled with heated awareness. Oh shit, he thought, feeling his body start to respond in kind.

Sky’s soft chuckle sounded. “What did you expect, Aidan? You’re young and virile and attractive. However, you need to realize one thing.” He paused to press his hips against Aidan’s own so that their arousals bumped. Aidan gasped and squirmed uncomfortably. Aidan gleaned his intentions the second before Sky’s lips crashed down on his own.

“No. Stop,” Aidan whimpered, fighting their dual arousals. “I don’t want this.”

The kiss was sweet, so very sweet. Aidan had expected a harsh, punishing kiss that he could use as ammunition for his anger, but this…this was a gentle probing, a coaxing to gain a reaction. Aidan knew that he was no match for the sheer expertise of the being kissing him. He found himself responding to Sky’s desires, sighing into his mouth and opening his own to accept the gentle licks of the vampire’s tongue. Sky drew back slowly, letting Aidan know that he was relinquishing the control back to the hunter.

“Are you calm now?” Sky asked.

ADULT EXCERPT

Aidan stalked up the stairs, his entire being focusing down to the man who awaited him. Halfway up, his boots were kicked off along with his trousers. He was beyond caring about anyone seeing him. He’d waited long enough to give in to the pulsing desire that had plagued him since Sky had left London a year ago. Naked, he padded to the large double doors that led into Sky’s bedroom.

“Sky,” he bellowed, banging on the door when it wouldn’t budge. Didn’t Sky realize they needed this? It might have seemed like a sudden change of heart to some people, but MacGregors were naturally decisive people. Once he made up his mind to take a different path, that was all there was to it. He streaked down the cord in his mind that led to the vampire and found himself looking through Sky’s eyes.

The vampire was on his knees on the mattress. One hand was braced against one of the posts of his four-poster bed, the other was wrapped around the perfection of his erection, pumping his aching body furiously. The same urgency had obviously seized him as well. Even his thoughts were garbled images of Aidan’s body. They flashed like portraits one after the other, the fantasies becoming more elaborate the closer he streaked toward orgasm. Aidan moaned. It wasn’t fair that Sky was in there pleasuring himself while leaving the hunter outside his bedchambers. The powers he’d been fighting since London came boiling up out of him and pitched against the door. It gave and flew open.

Sky never missed a beat. Instead, he continued to pump his erection while Aidan stalked into the room.

“You want this, jäger?” the vampire teased. There was a sadistic gleam in his eyes that Aidan had never seen. Oddly enough it turned him on even more. He wanted Sky’s aggression and his dominance. Aidan was by no means a man who enjoyed giving up his power, but to Sky…

Sky’s accent was more pronounced now that lust lit his voice, the words more guttural than ever before. “Answer me, jäger. Do you want this?”

The game only served to heighten the desire simmering in Aidan’s blood. “Yes, vampire. Give it to me.” He wanted Sky’s embrace, his bite. He wanted everything that the vampire offered in that moment. Aidan jumped into the bed and crawled toward Sky’s beautiful body.

Sky shot him a look that dared him to touch him. “You bust into my room ten minutes earlier than I told you to, naked, and demand I give you what you want. Why should I give you my cock, jäger?” Something about the way he demanded an answer turned Aidan on. Maybe it was the way the vampire growled his title in his native German.

Aidan whimpered. “Because I need it.” He was mesmerized by the movement of the German’s big hands stroking himself to completion. He should’ve been startled by his fascination with another man’s body, but he couldn’t bring himself to be. He wanted Sky’s hands on him. First, though, he wanted to watch.

Sky snarled as he caught Aidan’s expression. “I was going to take the edge off. I was going to come to you more man than beast, but you don’t want the man do you, jäger?” The harsh, guttural question went straight to Aidan’s cock.

“No,” Aidan said. It clicked in place then. He really didn’t want Sky to be anything but what he was. If he were just a man, Aidan wouldn’t find the idea any less thrilling, but the edge of forbidden only ratcheted up the tension. “I want the monster. Give it to me, Sky, please.”

He blinked, and he was chest to chest with Sky. Damn vampires are fast. The vampire’s mouth crashed down on his own with almost violent desire. Their tongues tangled, and Sky nipped at his bottom lip and tongue with his fangs. Aidan whimpered into his mouth as Sky’s other hand wrapped around his erection.

“Take me into your hand, jäger,” Sky commanded. “Despite your protests, I don’t want to hurt you the first time.” What about other times?

“Make me do it,” Aidan said, trying to convey with his eyes what he wanted from Sky. Sky’s eyes burned red with desire.

“Aidan MacGregor, touch my cock. Make me come. Now.”

With a moan Aidan did as he was told. He jerked Sky’s dick with enthusiasm, euphoria racing through his blood. He couldn’t think of anything but how fantastic it felt to have Sky with him at last. It was the same thrill he’d felt when they’d raced the horses earlier, except, this time, the result would be infinitely more pleasurable. The vampire’s hand on his prick was maddening as they moved together. He’d been concerned that he wouldn’t know how to be with a man, but it was really no different than touching himself. He hoped the rest came just as naturally.

Sky threw back his head and groaned. “More,” he commanded. Aidan worked his hand with the single-minded purpose of giving the man before him pleasure. An insane thought came to Aidan as he caught the echo of his desire pass through Sky’s mind. Yet it was suddenly a yearning he shared.

“Let me taste you,” Aidan begged, eyeing the first pearly drop of pre-cum with barely concealed desire.

The vampire hesitated an instant before he nodded his assent. “Do it.” Sky groaned as Aidan did as he was bid.

Aidan pitched forward, sucking the first inch of cock into his mouth. He swirled his tongue over the head, lapping up the moisture that had collected there. He may have never sucked cock before, but he knew what he liked, and the idea of making his lover come apart in his mouth made his attempts all that more enthusiastic.