STORY EXCERPT

“Aren’t the two of you mates?”

“No!”

Both men shouted it at the same time, then proceeded to glare at each other, fists clenched, both ready to attack.

And it was so stupid, Davin couldn’t bring himself to feel any sadness for the situation.

Maybe a little sadness.

But it was kind of ridiculous.

Triton, the alpha of the wolf pack, rubbed his hand over his face as though he were fighting off a migraine.

He’d been having a lot of headaches since the fire, and the cleanup was showing no signs of slowing down within the month.

“Wilson, I swear to Christ—”

“He started it!” Wilson’s eyes glowed, his fangs practically popping out of his mouth as he pointed a clawed finger at Billy.

Vampires and werewolves did not get along. It wasn’t just a stereotype.

They tended to hate each other with murderous passion.

Davin and Triton were, so far, the only exceptions Davin knew about.

Triton sneered at his friend. “Are you fucking twelve? Look at his face!”

“Look at my face!”

Billy, arms crossed, started to smile, which had to hurt, but he did it anyway.

Davin wasn’t sure where Billy had gotten the sharpie from, but he figured it would take Wilson a while before he could completely wash away all traces of the artwork from his face.

A drooping pair of balls sat on his cheek, a long, curved shaft curling up and over his left eye before settling nicely over the right.

Davin presumed that was meant to be cum dropping onto his other eye and not teardrops.

Billy had the beginnings of two black eyes for his trouble, but he looked happier than a pig in shit over what he’d done while Wilson had slept.

Davin didn’t think Billy would be smiling if someone had done that to him, but Billy wasn’t Davin. He was born and raised a warrior all on his own level.

He wasn’t as bulky as Wilson, or as tall, but Davin had seen him move over the years.

He was fast. Even when Davin had tried keeping up with him when they were kids, Billy had already been faster, more nimble, able to get out of tricky situations and take Davin down pretty easy in any wrestling match.

Right. He would be hurting, but he knew how to toughen up and keep going.

“Are you okay?” Davin couldn’t help but ask it anyway. It seemed rude not to at least make sure he was fine.

Billy waved it away. “The puppy barely scratched me. This is nothing.”

“That was nothing,” Wilson growled threateningly.

“Will, cut it out,” Triton snapped, his own fangs popping from his mouth. “I’ve got enough shit on my plate without having to think about what you’re doing to your fucking mate when I’m not around.”

The smile left Billy’s face. Both he and Wilson glared at Triton.

“We are not mates,” Wilson insisted.

“I agree,” Billy said.

It was about the only thing they could seem to agree on in the four days they’d known each other.

Everyone could see that this was happening. Davin sure as hell had seen it when they’d met each other.

Billy had still been bleeding from his nose when Davin, not knowing it was his friend beneath the mask, headbutted him. Billy, along with a number of other vampire warriors and assassins, had snuck onto pack territory with the intent of kidnapping Davin back.

Davin imagined his father had been pissed when he found out his son had been taken, and by Triton of all people.

Triton and Adolphus had a history fucked up in its own right, and since Billy worked for Davin’s father…

He was just glad Billy survived, though Davin didn’t think he would have if Wilson hadn’t hesitated the way he had.

The way they had looked at each other, as though they’d found something that had been lost for a long time…

Just for it to turn into this.

“Billy, did you have to do that to his face?”

“He is a giant pecker head, so it sort of fits, doesn’t it?”

“I haven’t broken your fingers yet,” Wilson warned.

“And you’re not going to!” Triton snapped. “Wilson, cut it the fuck out! Short of him physically attacking you, I don’t want to see that shit again!”

Triton pointed at Billy’s face as he said it. Billy glared at him, but Davin was pretty sure his mate didn’t pick up on the roundabout way he’d just insulted Billy’s looks.

He probably didn’t care, either, if Davin was honest with himself. He loved his mate, but Triton’s patience seemed to stretch only so far.

Triton’s brother had only just woken up after the attack, and Zeus was pissed that he was bedridden while the other men and women of the pack continued to work, repairing the homes and dealing with the sick and injured.

Davin had tried talking to him, tried explaining that he was one of the sick and injured, but he didn’t think that was getting through to the other man.

Davin put his hand on Triton’s arm. He felt the intense clenching of powerful muscle beneath the long-sleeved tunic.

He almost pulled back, but if Triton wasn’t going to ask Davin to stop, then he wasn’t going to stop.

There was no point to stopping if his mate wasn’t bothered by it, was there?

Still, Triton didn’t relax. His body didn’t unclench from that tight coil he’d wound himself up in.

He continued to glare at Wilson and Billy, waiting for either of them to make an argument.

Both men still looked put off by the whole thing.

It really did look like a couple of teenagers being reprimanded.

“So long as this little shit doesn’t sneak attack me with markers again, his face will stay safe.”

“If the mutt will stop threatening me and Davin, I won’t come after him with a sharpie. Honestly, I was being generous, all things considered.”

Oh shit.

“What?”

Triton glared at Wilson, and this time Davin did take his hand away from the man’s forearm. Triton seemed ready to jump out of his own skin.

Wilson tensed. “I didn’t mean it! I was just talking shit! To annoy him!”

“I don’t give a fuck! Don’t you ever threaten Davin for any reason ever again!”

There had been a few threats, a few words muttered under the breaths of the people saying them, and Triton was in no mood to take risks.

He didn’t want Davin to be put at risk by anyone in his pack, and that was that.

Even though Billy didn’t much like Triton either, Billy had admitted to Davin it was the one thing he could respect the wolf shifter for.

He was not willing to put up with anyone threatening Davin.

Even when Davin didn’t think it was a big deal.

“Honestly, Triton, it’s okay. I don’t care.”

“I care!”

ADULT EXCERPT

They kissed their way upstairs.

Any doubts Davin might have had about Triton’s affections for him vanished. It was hard to have doubts about how much his mate did or did not want him when the man clung to him as tightly as this, kissing him passionately as they blindly found the door to what had become their bedroom.

The blinds were closed and taped shut all throughout the house, meaning there was no nasty surprise waiting for Davin when they opened any of the doors.

Not that it was needed during this time in the evening, and Davin was still trying to convince Triton that he had some resistance to the sun for a few minutes at least, but the other man wouldn’t listen to reason, and the blinds stayed closed, even during the night.

He could feel the heat of Triton’s cock as the other man pushed him toward the bed.

Davin fell onto the sheets with a grin, enjoying the way his mate stalked toward him, climbed over him, and kissed him hard again.

He moaned, pushing his hands through the other man’s hair and holding on tight, spreading his thighs and enjoying the way Triton took control.

Davin loved how much stronger Triton was than himself. He loved the feel of Triton’s muscles, the heat of his body, and the way his cock throbbed against Davin’s thigh when they rolled around in bed together.

He loved the way Triton’s eyes turned gold, how they closed as though there was a light turned on behind them.

And he loved the taste of the man’s blood.

He hadn’t fed from Triton since the fires. He might need it to function.

“I should bite you.”

Triton nodded, tilting his head to the side, exposing that beautiful, thick throat.

And since all vampires loved the sight of a good, healthy neck, Davin’s cock throbbed at the sight, his mouth watering as his fangs slid out of his mouth.

The puncture marks from the last time he’d fed from Triton were still here. They were healing nicely, because of course they were. Triton was an alpha wolf and he would heal better, his blood regenerating faster, than the average human.

Davin broke the skin, sank his teeth deep, and began sucking out the sweet blood that was his nourishment.

Triton hissed at the initial pain, but then he settled against Davin’s mouth, curling his arms around Davin’s neck and shoulders.

It was nice. Even though Triton was on top of Davin, it felt as though he were holding onto Davin for dear life.

There was an element of trust that came with a feeding.

Triton had to trust that Davin wouldn’t drink too much from him, for one thing, that he would leave Triton with enough blood that he could get back to work without a feeling of weakness or nausea taking over.

And then he had to trust that Davin wouldn’t kill him.

And that made it even better.

His mate trusted that Davin wouldn’t hurt him, and Davin was going to make absolutely sure that he never did anything that would damage that trust.

He knew when Triton had had enough. Triton squeezed Davin’s shoulder, pulling back just a little, the pull against Davin’s teeth enough to tell him that Triton wanted to stop.

So he did, reluctantly, licking his lips of blood.

“No more?”

Triton shook his head. “Can’t do any more just now, but I think you got it all.”

All the bad blood. Davin couldn’t believe there had ever been a time when he thought drinking from Triton had been disgusting. He was so used to getting his blood from champagne flutes, and even pouring it into his cereal some days, that it took a bit before instinct kicked in.

When he could enjoy taking his blood warm, directly from the source.

And a werewolf source, at that.

Now, Davin thought it was so good that he didn’t want to waste a drop. He’d started to dream about drinking from Triton, about how much he needed it so he could function.

The way Triton smiled at him when he finished didn’t exactly help things. Not to mention Davin enjoyed the way Triton undressed him.

“I’ve been thinking about this all day.”

Davin shivered. There was such promise in those words. He didn’t want to come off as though he were the desperate one, but he had to say something. “Me too.”

Nailed it. Calm, smooth, and sophisticated even when in bed.

Triton hooked his thumbs into Davin’s pants after getting his belt loose, and that calm, cool, and sophisticated look he was going for sailed right out the window when his cock sprang forward, a drop of glistening pre-cum pearling at the head.

Heat flooded Davin’s face. Right. He might be able to pretend to be calm and collected in bed, but his stupid dick would give him away any day of the week.

Triton didn’t say anything else. He didn’t tease Davin, not with words anyway. He just put that luscious pink mouth to better use as he sank his lips down and around the head of Davin’s cock.

Davin threw his head back, sighing, his hips thrusting up and into that amazing heat.

Oh God, fuck it. He wasn’t going to be calm and collected. He wasn’t going to pull off anything close to that so long as Triton sank down almost to the root of Davin’s cock, then held his position for a few long, beautiful seconds, before pulling back for a breath.

“H-holy shit. That…that was…oh!”

He did it again. When did Triton get so good at this?

He tried to imagine what the other man could have been practicing on in the four days since they’d last been together.

Everything he thought of threatened to make him laugh, and laughing at his mate while being given a blow job was by far the worst thing he could do, so he held it back.

Barely.

Luckily, the pleasure, the wet heat soon overtook any need Davin had to laugh at the other man.

He gently thrust his hips forward, watching as the length of his cock vanished between those lips again, and again, and again.