STORY EXCERPT

“You are an interesting creature,” a sexy, slightly accented male voice whispered in Jason’s mind. The vampire stirred slightly behind the heavy curtains of his four-poster bed. It’d only been a few hours, and he was still exhausted.

“Mmmm…you are quite delicious looking as well.”

Jason’s eyes slid open in irritation. What the hell? He sent his senses outward, searching for the mental signature of another vampire. Finding nothing but the muted sparks of the Carters a couple streets over, he sat up with a frown.

“Powerful as well,” the voice noted. “An ancient vampire. Interesting. You gave up your homeland over a two-hundred-year-old broken heart.”

Jason slammed up his mental shields as the voice spewed his most private thoughts. “Foolish,” the voice commented. “Giving up a position of ease and power to run a pastry shop. You are a unique one, all right.”

Jason’s eyes darted around the room, searching for answers and gathering his power in preparation for a strike against the unknown entity. He’d met some rather persistent ghosts before, but never had he encountered one who could get past his mental shields.

“Iwouldn’t do that if I were you,” the voice cautioned. Ignoring it, Romanoff took up the mental thread that was the unique bright-red energy of the being and threw his power down his cords. The power to isolate and then attack another being’s wavelength had always been in his repertoire of powers. It went under the mental shields of other beings and essentially attacked the souls. All he had to do was force his power back through the thread of energy in the opposite direction of the flowing energy.

Jason gasped as his body convulsed as his own power struck him, causing his muscles to jump and twitch in absolute agony. “What the fuck?” He gasped with a moan of pain.

“I told you I wouldn’t do that,” the voice said.

“What are you?” Jason asked, panic seeping into his mind.

“I’m Adamian, High Spirit Warlord of New Orleans, some people call my kind demons, but that’s not quite right. Call me Adam for short.” Jason got the impression of a courtly yet sarcastic bow that followed the words.

“Demon? As in a ‘fire and brimstone’ demon?” Jason asked in shock, not believing a word of this. A laugh that sounded like sex personified echoed in the vampire’s head.

“The vampire Prince of Britain, a member of a secret society, an immortal himself, doubts the existence of incorporeal demons?” The voice chuckled. “Besides, I’m a spirit, not a demon. You know how humans misconstrue things.”

“Where are you?” he demanded, twisting into a crouch and throwing back the curtain of his bed. Spirits or demons or whatever would not be tolerated in his home, and Jason strongly suspected that that was where he was. A pause answered him.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Adam asked. Laughter saturated his voice.

“No. It’s not obvious. If you’re invisible, I can’t very well see you, can I? How can I hear you for that matter?”

Jason was confused. He put his hand to his temple, feeling a headache coming on. Instantly a cooling sensation filled his mind, easing the tension from the headache. Jason blanched.

“Oh, fuck! You’re inside me! Get out!” he screeched, his heart galloping in panic. Adrenaline flooded him. “How the hell did you get inside my head?” he demanded, his voice rising in panic.

“Think hard, vampire,” Adam said soothingly. Memories flooded him from the night before like flashes of a movie reel. The man, that gorgeous man, licking and kissing his mouth. The spicy blood. The floating sensation and the incredible desire.

“Oh, fuck!” Jason groaned, collapsing backward. His heart thundered in his chest. “You possessed me!”

“I haven’t possessed you entirely. I’m simply sharing your mind for the time being. It was necessary at the time. I was in, ah…a bit of a fix.”

“I don’t give a damn. Get out,” Jason growled. Invisible hands ran over him in soothing strokes. His nipples hardened as they stroked over his naked chest. “Stop that!” Jason snapped. He didn’t want to admit he was getting a little aroused from the phantom touches.

Adam chuckled. “I’m in your mind, vampire. I see it all.”

“So get out. Find some poor human to take over instead of me.”

The spirit sighed. “I don’t need to take over some random human. Firstly I’d drain the human’s life energy if I did so, and secondly I wouldn’t be able to use their energy to summon my own. I have an immortal body and a physical one, thank you very much. That is what I need your assistance with. I have to get back to mine.”

“Why me?” Romanoff asked, feeling sorry for himself. It figured that this would happen to him. Karma had once again sought to punish him for his hundreds-of-years-old transgressions.

“Honestly? You were the first one I ran into. Literally. My physical body has been destroyed by the man that was chasing me. As a vampire you are strong enough to help me reform my body. It’s really of the utmost importance for you to assist me.”

“Like hell!” Jason sputtered. “I don’t have to do anything.”

“You most certainly do. Otherwise you’re going to have to learn to deal with never being alone in your head again.”

Jason grew silent at that. He felt trapped for the first time since leaving his position as prince and moving to the U.S.

“Sometimes responsibility chooses you instead of choosing to take on responsibility,” Adam offered softly.

“I moved here to stay out of responsibility’s way. I am so sick of dealing with other people’s problems. I need some me-time!” Jason said miserably.

“Can I point something out to you, as an independent observer?”

“Sure,” the vampire said a mite sarcastically.

“You’re running away from yourself. You didn’t come to New Orleans to work out personal issues and live the simple life. You moved here so you wouldn’t be reminded of the man you lost and the loneliness of a crowded room.”

“Who the hell asked you to examine my memories?” Jason asked, blushing. The demon had nailed him with those statements, and God if that didn’t piss him off to no end.

ADULT EXCERPT

“I thought this was a cleansing bath, not playtime.”

“Playtime? Mmmm…I like that. Let’s do playtime instead,” Adam rumbled, causing the vampire to shiver. He pinched Jason’s nipples a bit harder, eliciting another gasp from the former prince. Jason wanted to yield to Adam in the worst ways. The want scared him. He didn’t bottom. Hadn’t bottomed for several hundred years. The urge to let Adam’s dominant touches sweep him away should’ve made him much more uncomfortable than it did.

“When you get a body, I’m going to whip your ass for this,” Jason murmured, swiping at the invisible hands to no avail.

Adam chuckled. “I’m terrified.” He ran those hands down the front of Jason’s body and wrapped it around his budding arousal. The vampire gasped, his head falling back and his mouth opening in a soundless moan. He’d not had a lover touch him in longer than he cared to remember, and having Adam do it now sent his body into a hyper state of sensitivity that was reserved for the celibate and the young.

“What about that cleansing bath?” Jason asked with a gasp. He braced his arms on either side of the mirrors above the sink and stared into his eyes as Adam stroked him from base to tip. It was disorienting looking down and not seeing a hand there, and even more disorienting not seeing another person in the bathroom with him.

“Purity of thought has to be achieved as well. I have to relax you completely so that your only thoughts will be calm and focused,” Adam spoke through his mouth, lighting Jason’s features with a saucy grin.

“God. It’s good when you do that,” Jason said, his eyes alight with smoldering desire.

“What’s hot?” Adam growled. He had an invisible mouth latched on to the vampire’s sensitive nipples, giving them just an edge of teeth. “Me controlling this gorgeous mouth of yours?” Jason moaned in answer.

“Casual,” Jason reminded them both as Adam’s hands increased their pace and intensity. He had to say that, or else he was going to lose his mind. Adam had admittedly just gotten out of a relationship, admittedly cheated on his ex, and admittedly did not do serious relationships. However, if Jason were to admit it to himself, all the vampire did was serious relationships. Maybe he needed a casual fling.

“Casual,” Adam agreed. “Now stop thinking about anything but pleasure, Bram.”

Jason followed his command with relish. Adam added a sucking sensation to Jason’s testicles to go with the stroking hand on his cock. Jason’s moan echoed through the bathroom. The spirit continued to torment his body as he spoke. “Love watching the change of expressions as they play on your face, Bram. I want to get you off so good that you’ll see stars. Think we can do that?” He was putty in his hands, and Adam adjusted every stroke and lick to the desires shimmering in Jason’s mind until he had him at a fever pitch. Jason tossed his head from side to side, pushing his hips against those invisible hands.

“Adam!” Jason gasped. He’d never had anything feel as good as the demon’s invisible touches. Every stroke was tailored to his desires, every lick was gauged for his reaction, and every sharp pinch on his nipples was to contrast the gentle pleasure on his cock. Nothing was ever touched long enough to really get him off. The touches were present only long enough to tease him, torment him.

“That’s it, Bram. Get hot for me.” Adam growled. He tore his gaze from Jason’s face in the mirror and shut off the shower. Instead he took both of them to the claw-footed tub and turned the water on there. He tossed in some salts and plugged the bottom. The entire time, the sensations tearing through Jason’s carefully erected mental walls continued to boil over him.

“What are you doing?” Jason asked as Adam stepped into the tub and relaxed into the hot water, which was swirling with salts.

“Cleansing. What’d I tell you, Bram? Relax,” Adam commanded. He used his powers to create the sensation of a mouth on Jason’s straining dick.

“Fuck!” Jason moaned.

“Not yet,” Adam whispered darkly, teasing the tip of his arousal with soft licks of his tongue. “God, I can’t wait to taste you.” Adam growled as the vampire leaked a drop of pre-cum. Jason’s hips thrust upward, coming out of the water as his pleasure mounted. Adam gripped the tub above Jason’s head, immobilizing Jason’s upper half with a thought.

“I’m going to come,” Jason warned as the tension in his lower body tightened to an unbearable pitch. Adam immediately backed off to a gentler stroke, squeezing the base of his cock to stave off the orgasm. “No!” Jason gasped, his eyes rolling and his hips straining for that last hard stroke he needed. Adam laughed, clearly enjoying the most exquisite torture he was inflicting on Jason. He sent searching fingers to tease the tight ring of muscles that protected the entrance into Jason’s body. Jason’s eyes rolled again, his breath little more than a series of pants. Adam groaned aloud as Jason spread his legs wide obligingly, his body open and pliant in Adam’s invisible embrace. He stroked a finger deep into the recesses of the vampire’s body than was possible with anything other than his mental touch, stroking his prostate and sucking his cock deep into his throat.