STORY EXCERPT

One of the downsides to being the consort of a vampire prince was, it turned out, that everyone hated him for it.

Trevor Reiner wasn't the sort of guy who was all right with that. He always thought he would be tough in this sort of situation.

Not that he ever thought he would become the lover of the prince of vampires. Ludwick Starosta was not only the most handsome eligible bachelor in the United States, and maybe the world, but being a rich and powerful vampire with connections, which made it impossible for him to be with a lowly human servant, kind of complicated things.

Trevor was still struggling to think of why the other man was interested in him at all, and he hated that.

He especially hated that these thoughts were enough to make him question whether or not he actually loved Ludwick, or if Ludwick loved him in return.

They'd said they'd loved each other. It seemed so right at the time, and it felt like a weight had been lifted to be able to tell the vampire that after Ludwick had gone to all that trouble defending him from his own parents, and the parents of Lady Petricia Zima.

Trevor had felt so happy when Ludwick told him he loved him in return, but now…

Now that happiness felt more like a weight. Worse, it was even a heavier weight than Trevor had felt when he'd walked around the palace in fine clothes that didn't belong to him, eating good food he shouldn't be eating, and socializing with vampires who didn't want him anywhere near them.

He was an imposter here, and the more he thought about it, the more he was convinced Ludwick wanted him only because being with Trevor was a great big Fuck You to the polite society and establishment he was forced to take part in.

It was so depressing. Trevor didn't know what to do with himself, and he was getting tired of avoiding Martin's eyes.

Ever since Martin kissed Trevor and Trevor turned him away, there had been something…not quite right.

Not that it was ever supposed to feel like sunshine, rainbows, and bird songs whenever a friend confessed to another friend and was shot down.

"Do you not like your steak?" Ludwick asked. "The cook can bring you something else if you like."

"No, I'm fine. Just lost in my own head," Trevor said. He knew who the cook was, and he didn't want to make more work for him.

Just as he didn't want Martin coming back to their table to serve another meal to him again.

Trevor couldn't quite get over the idea that every time he saw the other man, there was a hint of betrayal in Martin's eyes.

Or pain.

Neither was good.

The queen delicately dabbed at her mouth with her napkin, barely deeming Trevor worthy of looking at.

"One does not become lost in their own thoughts when in polite company."

Trevor cleared his throat. "Of course. Apologies, Your Majesty."

"Or scratch and make lewd noises with their throat," the king kindly interjected.

At least he did look as though he were trying to give Trevor a little more benefit of the doubt than his wife, but Trevor didn't think it much mattered.

He got in trouble for nodding off, for coughing, scratching, sneezing, and even looking around the room he was in.

Nevermind the sort of looks he got whenever he used the wrong fork for his salad.

Not to mention Trevor tried his absolute best to not so much as pass the tiniest amount of gas of any kind in front of the king and queen.

Their senses were so great that burping and farting in front of them would almost be broadcasted to them on a loudspeaker, and they likely wouldn't appreciate the smell, no matter how small.

It was no wonder Ludwick hated these people. He wanted to get as far away from them as possible, and his only way to do that was to be with a nobody human like Trevor.

Trevor tried to pay attention to the polite conversation around him, he really did, but he couldn't stop his gaze from wandering to the servants’ doors, where the waiters appeared and disappeared with food to be served and dirty plates cleaned.

He kept waiting for Martin to appear. Kept waiting to see the look on his face. He didn't want to see it, but he couldn't help but seek it out.

He was a masochist like that.

There wasn't even anyone else dining with them in this huge hall. The clinks of their glasses and cutlery were overly loud in this wide, empty space.

And Martin still didn't show up.

He'd served the salad and soup but not the main course, and he wasn't the one who came back to refill their drinks.

Was he avoiding Trevor now?

That made Trevor so unbearably sad, he couldn't stand it.

Trevor rubbed at his still bruised face. Most of it had been covered with makeup from a professional the king had hired to see to Trevor's face after Lady Petricia's parents attacked him.

The royal family couldn't have the little whore their son was sleeping with showing up to dinner with a bruised face, after all, but that didn't stop the majority of the bruising from showing through.

His face still hurt.

He wondered if he deserved it.

Ludwick got to his feet, pushing his chair back. "Mother, Father, may I request leave from dinner? I don't think Trevor is feeling well."

"I'm fine. I promise. I'm so sorry. I will pay better attention."

He didn't want to get in trouble, and he didn't want the king and queen of vampires looking at him as though he were doing something wrong. Or taking it out on Ludwick.

Not that they showed signs of wanting to punish Ludwick in all this. It seemed to be Trevor who was taking on the majority of the pain and punishments for their strange relationship.

The queen narrowed her eyes, as though she were not buying this excuse.

The king either faked his concern really well, or he was actually somewhat saddened by the idea that Trevor would be taken away from the table.

"Are you absolutely certain of it, Trevor?"

He shook his head. "No, I swear I'm not—"

Ludwick actually slapped his hand over Trevor's mouth. "He needs his rest. I will take him to bed and see to it that he's properly rested for tomorrow's breakfast banquet."

It took every ounce of willpower Trevor possessed in his body to keep from growling at Ludwick for this.

The nerve of this asshole to presume that he could make decisions like that for Trevor. Trevor didn't need him to make his decisions for him on top of everything else that was happening.

The queen waved her hand, as though this wasn't important to her and as though she weren't judging Trevor for being so weak.

"Take him away, then. He's too distracting for a nice meal."

The corner of the king's eye twitched, as though he wanted to say something about this, too, but whatever it was, he kept it to himself. "Rest well, Trevor."

Trevor inhaled a deep breath, then pushed himself to his feet to stand beside Ludwick.

"Thank you, Your Majesties. I will try to be better rested tomorrow."

ADULT EXCERPT

Ludwick came back to him quickly, his eyes on fire, as though he were worried Trevor might change his mind and think better of this.

Trevor let himself be pulled into Ludwick's arms. He wrapped his arms around the man's neck, putting his hands into Ludwick's hair and pushing their mouths back together.

Not the most romantic of kisses. It was kind of sloppy, Trevor wasn't going to lie, but he still loved it.

He loved the feel and taste of Ludwick's cool lips on his own. He wanted more of that. He wanted Ludwick to consume him.

He wanted Ludwick to drink from him.

Ludwick's hands were rough as he slid them down Trevor's waist. Trevor moaned, and he took the hint when he felt the vampire prince crouching just a little, as though he were getting ready to lift Trevor into his arms.

Trevor helped by jumping into them.

He never would have thought he would be the sort of guy to do that, but it seemed he did a lot of things when it came to this man.

And he loved it. He loved all of it.

Take me. Fuck me. Drink from me and make me yours. I want you to own me.

Even if Ludwick didn't love him. Even if this whole thing was an unhealthy experiment in pissing people off, why shouldn't Trevor be able to enjoy this while it lasted?

Why shouldn't he be able to pretend that this would last?

It wouldn't. There was no way it would. But for now, he wanted to be with Ludwick without the worry of what other people thought, and the fear of what other people would do to them for it.

Ludwick walked to his stupidly large bed with Trevor in his arms. He threw Trevor down, stunning him as he bounced on the mattress.

Trevor looked up at the other man, and he couldn't help but smile as Ludwick removed his dinner jacket and started to unbutton his shirt.

"Uh, you remember that I'm the human here, right? I'm the breakable one between the both of us."

"I remember," Ludwick said. "But it's my understanding that on occasion, you humans like it a little rough."

His eyes had to flash as he said those words, didn't they? And oh God, Trevor's cock tightened, and his pants suddenly felt a little too tight.

Quickly, he worked to get out of them. He felt like a horny teenager as he fought with his belt.

The clothes the vampires liked to wear were all so damned pompous, and in some cases a little too frilly for his liking.

They were also difficult to remove.

Buttons, belts, and zippers had been around for a long time, but it seemed as though the vampires had only adopted this technology in recent years, and many were still against the use of them.

Which meant sometimes Trevor found himself wearing clothes he had no idea how to get out of without Ludwick's help.

This time around, he was pretty sure he was doing it right. He managed to get his pants down to his knees, and then it was just a matter of fighting with them to get them off his calves.

He wasn't even wearing the knee-high boots some of the vampires loved so much, but his pants were a little tight in the wrong places.

It made going to the bathroom a pain in the ass. And trying to have sex with Ludwick an even bigger pain in the ass, especially when the vampire prince kept looking at him as though he thought it was the funniest thing in the world that Trevor was struggling like this.

"Are you going to help me, or what?"

"I prefer to see you scramble to become naked for me. It proves to me that you want me inside you. That you want me, even though you don't want to admit it."

Trevor glared at the man. "I never said I didn't want you. I said I wanted to wait a little before we agreed if this was love or you’re just being a jerk to your parents."

"That is not even close to what you said either, but please, continue to lie to me. I am certain you will eventually find comfort in it."

Trevor growled. "All right, I don't care if you are the prince of vampires. You can go and fuck yourself with that—mmph!"

His angry tirade was cut off as Ludwick leaned in and pressed their mouths together, shutting Trevor up with a kiss.

A kiss that Trevor melted into because, shit, he had no willpower.

He tried to stop himself from being swept away by it, too.

Resist. He had to resist. So good. It felt too good, and he knew Ludwick was just being an asshole!

But it was too late. Trevor closed his eyes and let himself melt into that kiss.

Christ, for a guy who was cool to the touch, Ludwick managed to burn him like no one else could.

And then he stunned Trevor by ripping his pants right from his body.

Trevor gasped through the kiss, and then he moaned when he felt Ludwick's cool palm touching the heat of his cock.

The conflicting temperatures were the thing that nearly pushed Trevor over the edge. His hips bucked against Ludwick's hand. Trevor moaned. He wanted more. He wanted friction, but Ludwick insisted on keeping his touch a gentle one.

Ludwick pulled his mouth away from Trevor's lips, and there was all smile and teeth in his expression. "You would like me to put you out of your misery now, wouldn't you? Bring you to the edge of oblivion without you having to even work for it."

Ludwick tsked. "That's such bad form, even for a human."

Trevor glared at him, still trying to thrust against that hand, but the more he did, the worse it seemed to get as Ludwick pulled his hand back, preventing Trevor from getting the friction he needed.

"Y-you are such an asshole. I swear to God. You're…you're just, God, doing this to torture me."

"Mmm, perhaps." Ludwick sounded a little too casual about it as he continued to slide his hand across the length of Trevor's cock. Occasionally he toyed with taking the shaft into his hand, but the grip was too soft to do anything more than tease. "I think you've earned a little torture after the cruel things you have been saying to me."

Trevor gritted his teeth so hard he thought he might crack them. "I'm sorry! All right?"

Ludwick shook his head, taking Trevor's testicles into his hand and gently massaging them. "I don't believe you. A man in your position would say anything to ease the pain."

He was right about that, and now Trevor didn't know if he was actually sorry, or if he wanted to get off so badly that he was willing to say just about anything.

Stupid Ludwick knew it, too.

"I really am sorry. Please. I just don't want to be tortured like this anymore."

"Do you believe this to be an actual torture?"

"You're the one who said it was!"

Ludwick chuckled, sliding down the bed. "That I did, didn't I?"