Mirceo's lips thinned. "I didn't take you for such an ascetic."
"All things being equal, I enjoy comforts. But Poly affords few of them."
"You must've really wanted to stay away. From me."
"Not everything is about you, leechling." But wasn't that a huge part of it?
"Then tell me what was this penance was about."
"I wanted to get stronger and seek my fortunes." Before he'd left Abaddon, he'd vowed to Bettina: I will do anything--anything--so that I may never know defeat like that again. "I promised myself I would stay until I'd accumulated a certain amount of wealth and kills. Those goals took me five centuries to achieve."
Glancing to the right of Cas, Mirceo asked, "Did you think of me?"
Some minutes less than others. "Perhaps on occasion." Cas hadn't comprehended how much he would crave the simple companionship of their relationship until he'd lost it. Always, he'd missed his best friend.
But at night, alone in this cave, he'd found his thoughts turning . . . darker.
Aside from masturbating to the memory of their kiss, he'd conjured up filthy fantasies about Mirceo. Cas would stroke himself to a bone-melting release, yelling with equal parts pleasure and frustration.
He recalled the last one he'd indulged in here.
Cas unlacing his breeches and ordering Mirceo to suck . . . the prince's gray eyes dancing as he dropped to his knees . . . using the vampire's hot mouth . . . giving Mirceo his cum . . . the vampire taking his due and biting Cas's cock. . . .
That fantasy had made him culminate so hard his back had bowed.
Cas tugged his coat down to conceal his raging hard-on. Gods almighty. Filthy.
"Only on occasion, demon?" Mirceo's words ripped Cas from his memories. "At least one of us can lie. I'll bet you thought of me and fondled your mouthwatering member on these very furs." Mirceo skimmed his fingers through the top one, his pale vampire skin stark against silken black.
Mercy. Those deft fingers had encircled Cas's shaft mere nights ago, forcing it against Mirceo's own. That semen-slicked clutch . . .
"How long will you deny I'm yours?" Mirceo asked. "You saw your pre-cum. You know it's for me."
"And why would I produce pre-cum? I can't impregnate you."
Irritation flashed in the vampire's expression. "Is spawning all sex is good for? Because that was the last thing you were thinking about when you tagged every available female across the worlds. Besides, you're to give me seed because it will bond us. Just as sharing blood does."
The more Cas struggled not to imagine coming inside Mirceo, the more vivid the image grew. Frustration simmered. "So I should accept having no offspring without even a qualm?"
"You can't impregnate anyone until you break your seal, and you can't do that without me. In any case, I've found a way for us to have children, even with me as your mate. But you'll probably be too stubborn to listen."
"Tell me how that would be possible."
"We would use a donated egg for you--or us--to fertilize. Mina said she'd happily carry a babe for us."
"So not only would she be trapped down there in Dacia, she'd be trapped and pregnant."
He stiffened. "She's not trapped."
"Uh-huh. You can't keep her shut away forever."
Mirceo's eyes flickered black with emotion. "Watch me. I will lock her in Dacia's dungeon before she ever leaves the protection of the realm."
Cas raised his brows.
Mirceo released a breath. "It's a sore subject. Lothaire has been hinting around about sending her into the otherlands for education. If she stayed in her mist, she should be safe from the plague, but so many things could go wrong. If she lost concentration or grew too exhausted . . . or if Forbearers somehow found her . . ." He looked as if he were imagining every worst-case scenario. At length, he said, "I'll take Lothaire's godsdamned head before he sends her away."
All the best with that, you rash young leechling. Lothaire was rumored to be one of the longest-lived vampires in existence--which meant he would be diabolically powerful.
Canting his head, Mirceo said, "You feel protective of Mina already, don't you?" I . . . do. "You can scorn me all you want, but you are her brother-by-fate now. And she's thrilled to be your sister. Your family just got bigger."
"Silver-tongued as ever," Cas said in an indifferent tone, but the vampire had gotten him thinking. "Where would the egg come from?"
"Balery, my uncle's concoctioness and oracle, has some."
"You expect me to trust a seeress--who serves the Enemy of Old--to engineer a pup of mine?"
"Yes. Because I trust her."
"And would you be my partner in parenting?" Cas scoffed. "May the gods help any younglings with you as a father."
"Staked through the heart, demon." All light left Mirceo's eyes, and Cas wanted it back. "No one has ever wounded me like you do."
Mirceo had always struck him as unflappable, his emotions bulletproof. Did the vampire's uncaring facade hide a more sensitive self?
"Before I met you, I never thought about bringing children into the worlds," Mirceo said, holding Cas's gaze, "but the idea of creating something with you, then protecting it, appeals deeply to me. It would be a worthwhile endeavor, no? A fulfilling one?"
The vampire's words surprised him. What if Mirceo could somehow stay true and committed to a shared future?
"How long would that occupy you before you grew bored? I saw you burn through scores of partners. You simply aren't capable of eternity, and I'd accept nothing less from my mate."
"You've a lot of nerve to call me out on the number of partners. The notches on your belt must be infinite."
"Yes, but I made sure my bedmates weren't looking for more. Not usually a problem, since I was an impoverished demon of zero import. But with a rich prince like you, well, people start to dream. Every soul you've bedded ached for more of you, but you would cast them that look--"
"What look?"
"The it's-been-swell look. The one that said you wanted nothing more to do with them." Cas could see himself among that number, ruined forever by the vampire's incomparable sex appeal. What if I start to dream? "Your eye was always on the next conquest."
"Just as you've changed, so have I." Mirceo sounded confident. "I am ready for this. Only your stubbornness holds us back."
"You're the youngest mated male I've heard of in all my years. But finding your mate early is not a good thing. There's a reason most immortals go centuries before facing that kind of commitment--because they are in no way prepared to handle it when young."
"Damn you, demon, I don't want others!" Mirceo's elegant fingers gripped the furs--another visual to torment Cas for eons. "I don't desire or need them." The vampire couldn't lie, so he'd meant what he said. For now. In the future, the prince's outlook would change. "We could grow the House of Castellan together."
"I listened to you about journeying to Dacia, because you'd all but beguiled me by that point. Now I wonder what in the hell I'd been thinking. Would I--the spawn of a nameless death demon, with no ancestral line to speak of--be welcome inside those hallowed Dacian halls? If you actually believe that, you're kidding yourself." Just one more reason the two of them would never work. Cas rose and paced, restless in the suddenly too-small cave.
Brows drawn, Mirceo watched him. "I am trying, Caspion. I want only to be what you need."
"You can't force these things. Sometimes you have to let things just . . . be."
"Easier said . . ."
He needed Mirceo to listen to him. "Here, in the grueling downtime between hunts, I would will time to pass faster." He'd lain on those furs, memorizing every nuance of the cave ceiling, his mind turning. Hell, Cas had welcomed the surprise whenever a stray Wendigo wandered past the flap. "No endeavor in the worlds could madden a demon so much as that. I finally learned to let go. I simply had to take the pain and accept my lot."
"I'll never accept a life without you in it," Mirceo said. "You're denying us for reasons
that no longer apply. Why? Perhaps you don't lack faith in me. Perhaps you lack faith in you."
"What does that mean?"
"Chew it over. We'll discuss it after we collect our impossible bounty." Mirceo removed his sword belt and his trench coat, tossing them atop a trunk.
Cas cleared his throat. "What are you doing?"
"Settling in for the duration." He reclined on the furs, hands behind his head.
The vampire in my bed. Desire was a whip across Cas's back.
"If only we had something to do to kill time." Mirceo's voice was lazy, seductive. That sexual tension sizzled between them. "I could use a top-off, and you look like you're about to burst."
"Because you're turning me into a host!" Cas could bloodlet, but that would help for only so long. Whenever a host lost blood, his body assumed he was ceding it to a vampire, so it would produce an excess.
And right now, Cas's excess had settled into his groin--away from his brain. How was he going to concentrate on the job like this? He needed to drain himself of blood--and pressure.
Holding Cas's gaze, Mirceo murmured, "Won't you feed me, Caspion? I'll make it good for you."
Finally Mirceo had asked. Who could deny this prince? "Fine. You'll have your dinner from me. But we'll do it my way." Mirceo had manipulated Cas; why not use the vampire to make one of his countless fantasies come true?
Expression brightening, Mirceo traced to stand before him. "What did you have in mind?"
"I'm going to show you what I'd expect from my mate." Reclaim control. Dominate the prince. "And, leechling . . . you are not going to like it."
SEVENTEEN
Caspion eased ever closer. His swollen horns were straightened, his eyes gone black. Even his fangs had lengthened. So wickedly demonic. "I'm going to own you for a time. Because that is what I do to my partners." At Mirceo's ear, he rasped, "I'm going to own you because you're a prince, and I think a part of me hates you for that. A part of me needs to put you on your knees."
These dark musings got Mirceo harder than he'd ever been. Pre-cum wet the inside of his breeches.
He reached for Caspion's shaft, but the demon seized his wrist. "Ah-ah. I'm in control. Take off my sword."
With an intrigued lift of his brows, Mirceo unbuckled Caspion's weathered sword belt, then tossed it away.
In reward, the demon used a black claw to cut a line along his own neck. "Come, have a taste."
Mirceo eagerly did, leaning in to daub his tongue. A moan escaped his lips.
"My blood rules you, doesn't it?"
If this was Caspion's idea to scare Mirceo away . . . failure was at hand for the demon. "There is nothing like it."
"And biting me?"
"When your flesh gloves my fangs, I see heaven."
Caspion swallowed thickly. "Unbutton my shirt."
Mirceo did, spreading the material wide to bare the demon's brawny torso. Blond chest hair glinted in the firelight. I've wanted to nuzzle it since I first met him. Mirceo was helpless not to now, rubbing his face in it, inhaling with delight.
Caspion hissed in a breath, then sliced a line above his nipple. "Suck, vampire."
Mirceo eased over to press his mouth to the crimson. As he sucked, his tongue teased the hard little point, eliciting a growl from the demon.
Caspion cut a line above his other nipple, drawing Mirceo to it as well. Repeating his suck, Mirceo grew nigh dizzy on the luscious wine offered to him.
"What would you do for my blood?" Caspion demanded, voice a low rumble.
Dazed, Mirceo whispered, "Anything."
"You'd plead for it--just as you'd plead for me to fuck you. To give you my claiming bite."
The idea of Caspion marking him got Mirceo even harder. "I'll plead, if that's what it takes. I need to be possessed by you." He didn't necessarily crave penetration, but he would make the most of it to have Caspion. Maybe Mirceo could eventually persuade him into receiving on occasion. "It's just a matter of time, demon." The longer Caspion waited, the more out of control he would grow. "Fate will only let you resist for so long."
Clasping Mirceo's nape, Caspion leaned down. "Shut up." His firm lips took Mirceo's, his pointed tongue seeking.
Mirceo met him, groaning into the kiss. The demon had to be able to taste the blood, but it didn't cool his ardor. Caspion's aggression was palpable--and mounting. He deepened the contact, owning this kiss until Mirceo's knees went weak.
He dug his claws into the demon's broad shoulders. Though Mirceo was a formidable Dacian, he felt like ivy clinging to an oak.
Just when he surrendered completely, the demon broke away. "Got me all twisted!" Caspion reached down to untie his pants. "I know better than to want you." He shoved the leather down his thighs.
Mirceo had to clear his throat to speak. "But I was born for . . ." He trailed off, scenting a new source of blood.
Caspion pinched his chin, forcing him to look down. From a patch of silky blond curls, the demon's thick rod strained toward Mirceo, as if offering itself up for a bite.
A narrow slice graced the length. Gods almighty! Would Caspion make him drink from his shaft?
Make me, Mirceo inwardly begged. Ah, for the love of gods, make me. He stared at his mate's member, rapt, as blood pulsed along prominent veins and beaded atop that cut. The broad head was rose red, engorged with ever more blood.
I've never beheld anything so perfect. To feed from that font . . . ? Mirceo's fangs throbbed.
Increasing the pressure on Mirceo's head, Caspion said, "To your knees, princeling."
_______
Lust seething in his gray eyes, Mirceo dropped down. Cas had expected he'd go straightaway for the blood, but the vampire took his time.
Though Cas was in control, Mirceo wasn't cowed. Smirking up at him, the prince rubbed his chiseled face against the other side of Cas's shaft.
Gone dizzy with bliss, Cas choked out words: "Have you . . . ever sucked a cock before?"
Mirceo shook his head. "But fear not; I excel at my every endeavor."
Cas thumped the arrogant vampire's ear.
Laughing, Mirceo dipped to nurse on Cas's balls.
"Fuck!" He bucked his hips for more.
With a grin, Mirceo tugged Cas's length down to lick pre-cum from the tip. But then the joke was on Mirceo, because the taste obviously slayed the prince. When Mirceo's eyes rolled back in his head, Cas thought he'd come spontaneously--
Groaning, the vampire engulfed Cas's shaft into the wet heat of his mouth. He clawed Cas's bare ass to drag him closer, flicking his clever tongue as he sucked.
Gripping Mirceo's head, Cas forced his cock even deeper, but the vampire kept moaning for more. No one had ever swallowed so much of him! "Uhn! Take all of me." Unable to stop himself, he thrust between Mirceo's lips, fucking the prince's mouth. Before Cas was ready, his balls drew up. Tremors climbed his spine, his toes curling.
Pulling back, Mirceo rasped, "Ah-ah. Not yet, lover." He ripped open his own pants as he dipped the tip of his tongue into the slit.
Cas could only stare in disbelief. "You're hungry for more?"
All blazing arrogance, Mirceo said, "Always. I am a spoiled prince." He sank his fangs into Cas's rigid flesh.
And the world spun.
EIGHTEEN
The demon's wine bathed his tongue. Struggling not to come from the sultry taste, Mirceo began to suck.
"Gods almighty!" Caspion groaned with pleasure. "Drink me. Drink me down."
As Mirceo fed, he gazed up at this god of a male. Caspion was such a fierce warrior, an alpha to the core--but vulnerable. Despite kneeling at his feet, Mirceo still possessed power.
I'll have all of you. One day. . . .
For now, he lost himself in Caspion's lifeblood, his helpless reactions, his frenzied need. As the demon's rod throbbed around his fangs, Mirceo dared not touch his own member, lest he spill at once.
The demon cast him a brows-drawn, lost look. "I'm going to come right on your tongue, vampire."
> Mirceo grasped Caspion's heavy balls, tugging on them, drawing a yell from the demon. More pre-cum arose to mix with the blood.
Delectable . . . Mirceo was finished. He couldn't withstand the pressure of his own seed ascending his shaft. He lowered a shaking hand, grasping himself.
A single jerk of his fist.
To the music of Caspion's moans, he began to spend between the demon's boots. As semen spurted across the sand, he snarled around Caspion's cock, planting his fangs even deeper.
The demon growled, "The scent of your cum maddens me!" He started to culminate, his shaft pulsating in Mirceo's hungry mouth. "You've ended me . . . ENDED ME!" He threw back his head and roared till the cave quaked around them.
_______
With a loving lick, the vampire released his bite.
So much better than fantasy. Legs gone boneless, Cas stumbled back to his bed, sprawling on the furs. He grasped for his anger, wanting to stoke it, but all he felt was . . . peace. His body floated, euphoria drugging him.
Mirceo traced to lie beside him, resting his head on Cas's chest, his long black hair fanning out. Warm puffs of his breath breezed over Cas's dampened skin.
What if the prince is mine?
"Listen to that mighty heart beating," Mirceo murmured. "You can deny you love this all you want to, but your body tells a different story."
The vampire's intoxicating scent--sandalwood and a touch of blood--lit up Cas's mind. He shallowed his own breaths, just to take in more of that scent.
It was a tantalizing tease, with an undercurrent of fire--like Mirceo as a person.
Cas stared down at that long black hair. He'd gripped it before, but hadn't registered the feel of it. Could it be as soft as it looked? His fingers decided to find out, threading themselves through Mirceo's hair.
Soft like silk. Cas grew heavy-lidded with satisfaction. He gazed up at the nuances of the cave ceiling not with resignation and misery, but with a fragile hope kindling inside his chest.
He allowed himself a few moments to explore this afterplay. He'd always vaulted out of a partner's bed as soon as he'd come. Restless Mirceo had as well. Yet now the two of them lazed together.
Outside the winds howled. Inside the fire crackled. I could lie like this forever.
Reading his mind, Mirceo said, "This is almost as good as the release that got us here. Who knew?"