“That’s horrible.”
“It’s life here. It works. I know it’s very different from what you’re used to but it’s necessary.”
She contemplated that. “I’m going to end up getting whipped at some point.” A shudder ran through her.
“Never,” Drantos rasped. “I wouldn’t allow it.”
“You couldn’t even stop them from whipping you.”
“I chose to take the punishment, and I’d do the same for you.”
“That makes it worse. So I mess up and you get your back torn up again?”
He reached out and curled his fingers around hers. “I’d do it in a heartbeat.”
“I don’t even know when I’m breaking laws.”
“You’ll learn, Dusti. Just don’t fight with anyone and listen to me when I tell you to. It will be fine.”
“Am I allowed to fight with you? Because couples do that.”
“We won’t. We’re true mates.”
“What’s a true mate mean?”
“What we are. It’s when two people come together who are so compatible that they begin to feel and think what the other does. Does that make sense?”
“I guess.”
“For the ones who mate when it isn’t true, we call that settling. It’s when they take a mate without the true bonding. It usually only happens when they can’t find the right person or their true mate has died. They don’t want to be alone for the rest of their lives. They can love each other but it’s a shadow of what they could have. It would be as if two humans joined together in a relationship.”
“You make that sound insulting or something.”
“I don’t mean to but human relationships are different. You’ll understand once our bond strengthens. We’ll be able to sense what the other is feeling. It’s as if we’ll become one person in two bodies. Do you understand?”
“You said my grandfather killed his mate. How is that possible if they were bonded?”
“He’s a cold bastard. Maybe he settled for her. I don’t know. I wasn’t around them enough to judge what kind of bond they had. He has no heart. He kills without mercy.”
She held his hand, playing with his fingers. “How much pain are you in? Can I do anything?”
“Just stay close to me. I’ll recover soon.” He turned just a little, tried to hide a wince from the pain but failed. “Something has been on my mind. I didn’t mean to hurt you in the woods. It bothers me.”
“I like rough sex. I said that.”
“Not that. It hurt you when you realized I’ve bitten other women. You’re the only woman I love, Dusti. I had sex with women, and it’s considered polite in some cases to test a mating. There wasn’t an emotional attachment involved and we weren’t monogamous.”
She hated the idea of him ever being with anyone else. “So have you been with a lot of women I’m going to be running into around here?”
“No. I hoped one day I’d find my mate. I learned from my father’s mistake.”
“What does that mean?”
He hesitated before explaining. “He slept with just about every unmated female in our clan. When he found my mother and brought her home…well, let’s just say it wasn’t easy for her to be around a lot of jealous females who seemed happy to hurt her feelings. It’s considered an honor, and the most powerful position a woman can obtain, to be with the leader of a clan. They tormented her with the details of his past sexual exploits to get even with her for being his mate. I remember her crying when I was a child, and my father’s regret. He suffered, watching what she went through. You can’t hurt without it hurting me too.
“No one dares bring it up now. Mom started to beat on anyone who even looked at her wrong. Yonda is the only female in this clan I’ve ever touched. I didn’t want my mate to face that. Though I never thought she’d be a problem. We were friends.”
“Past tense, right? I have to tell you the idea of you hanging out with her is not going to sit well with me. I’ll trust you because you said you can’t get hard for another woman but I still don’t want her anywhere near you.”
“It won’t happen. She ended that friendship when she insulted you.” He paused. “She’s never been inside my cabin either. If you were VampLycan, you’d be able to pick up scents inside my home. I purposely never brought any woman here except my mother so if I were lucky enough to find my mate, she wouldn’t smell any lingering traces of past sex partners.”
Dusti smiled. “Seriously?” She had to admit she found it touching that he’d be that thoughtful, and again, it set him apart from any of the men she’d ever known in her life.
“Yes. I built all this with my mate in mind. I’d never dishonor you by allowing another woman into our bed.”
She glanced at the black comforter. “You’ve never had sex in this bed?”
He grinned. “Not with someone else present.”
It took her a second to understand his meaning. Her eyes widened. “You admit you jack off?”
“Of course I do.”
She grinned. “Human guys usually don’t admit to that.”
“They lie if they have a sex drive and deny it.”
“Women do it too.”
“Do you?” His hand slid a little higher up her thigh. “I’d really like watching you touch yourself.” He moved to turn on his side to face her more but then groaned. “In a few hours I’ll be healed enough to enjoy it more, when I can take you afterward. I want you but will open my wounds if I fuck you. I know you don’t like the sight of blood.”
His hand so close to her pussy affected her. His touch did that to her body. It turned her on until she ached. Her nipples hardened and she glanced down his body, where he’d lifted enough on his side for her to see just a hint of his aroused cock.
“Can you turn just a little more?”
He nodded, a slightly confused expression on his handsome features. He released her thigh. “I want you to curl into me.”
She winced a little with him when he eased onto his side. It still prevented him from touching the wounds on his back to the comforter while also giving her access to the front of him. He expected her to burrow into him but instead she released his arm to wiggle down the bed. His dark blue eyes widened slightly but he groaned when she wrapped her hand around the base of his hard shaft.
“I bet I can distract you from the pain.”
“Dusti.” He growled her name.
She met his passion-filled gaze, licked her lips, and lowered her attention to the tempting sight in front of her. Her tongue darted out to swipe across the tip of the crown. Drantos groaned softly in response and his cock twitched in her hand.
She took him slowly inside her mouth, tested his thickness to make sure he cleared her teeth before wrapping her lips around him. A hand tangled in her hair but he kept a loose grip. She moved cautiously at first, taking a little and sucking him in deeper until he threatened to choke her. She backed off to set a steady pace of using her mouth to suckle him. With every caress of her tongue, he growled.
Men who growl are hot, she thought, her entire body responding to the animalistic sounds she drew from him. She knew he’d hardened even more, the texture of his arousal undeniably stiffer, and his hand tugged gently on her hair in an attempt to make her stop.
She pulled back and released him. Her gaze lifted. “What? Don’t you like this?”
His eyes glowed light blue. “Flip, sweetheart. If you stop I’ll die, but I want access to you. I need your taste on my tongue.”
She hesitated. “Your back…”
“Trust me. Sixty-nine position on our sides. I’ve been hurt far worse than this in the past. I can take a little discomfort.”
“Are you sure? This is about you.”
“I smell you,” he snarled. “I want and need your taste. Give it to me.”
She eased up and then readjusted her body until she faced his lap, with hers in front of him. She paused, unsure what to do.
Drantos gripped her thigh
and tugged her closer, until she ended up pressed flat against his body, her lower belly high against his upper chest. “Spread your thighs for me.”
She did, and watched as he tucked his head, used her inner thigh to pillow his cheek, and then bent her upper leg until he’d trapped her foot under his arm along his side, where her limb rested against his ribs. His hand spread her vaginal lips and she gasped when his mouth found her clit. He didn’t warn her before he sealed his lips around the sensitive bud. When he started to use his tongue and the suction of his mouth, she cried out in pleasure.
His hips thrust a little, his cock bumping her cheek.
She got the message and would have laughed, if what he did to her didn’t feel too intense to allow anything but another moan. She opened her mouth, took him back inside her, and adjusted to the new angle. He slowly moved, not thrusting deep enough to choke her, but setting the pace.
His mouth on her clit and the drive of his hips while he fucked her mouth in shallow strokes threatened to make Dusti lose her mind. She moaned against his flesh, sucked him hard trying to hasten her own climax, which had her pressing her pussy tighter against his wonderful mouth. He growled deeper, creating vibrations against her clit with his tongue, and she gripped his thigh with her hand while bracing her body further by clutching the bedding.
Pleasure gripped her when his tongue rubbed faster, his hips bucking to force her to take him deeper inside the wet, tight seal of her mouth, and she swore he seemed to thicken in size just a little more. A snarl tore from Drantos and the first burst of his release started to fill the back of her throat.
She swallowed, loving his heady taste, his cock pulsing against her tongue, and then she screamed around him when pure rapture gripped her. She started to come hard, her own hips jerking in a frantic motion. His hand released the leg pinned to his side to grab her ass, holding her in place pressed tightly against his mouth, while he licked at her to draw out her pleasure.
Drantos jerked out of her mouth and released her clit. They both were out of breath, their labored breathing the only sound in the room, until a chuckle came from him.
“I love your taste, sweetheart. I can’t get enough. Next time you’re going to be sprawled over me when we do this position. You’re stronger than you look.”
She rolled onto her back but made sure she didn’t pull her thigh out from under his cheek, and lifted her head with a grin. “What does that mean?”
“Holding your leg down to keep you spread open for me became difficult. You totally would have used your thighs to pin my face if I’d allowed it.”
She laughed. “I really liked you there.”
“Come here.” He lifted his head to free her thigh.
She turned around on the bed, burrowed into his chest. His arm pillowed her head while his other one curved tightly around her back to draw her even closer.
“I love you, Dusti.”
“I love you too.”
“In the morning we’ll share blood, unless you need it now. Promise me you’ll tell me if you feel dizzy or weak.”
“I feel okay.” She rubbed her cheek against his skin. “You’re so warm.”
“It’s been a long day. We’re both exhausted.” He paused. “Take from me. I won’t risk your health. You have to remember your Vampire traits.” His finger rose and she managed not to gasp when his fingernail lengthened as she watched. He scratched his neck, drew blood, and cocked his head a little more. “My blood is yours.”
Dusti leaned forward after only a slight hesitation. He’d already cut himself, she knew it had to hurt him, and she wasn’t about to have his pain be for nothing.
She closed her mouth over the wound, half surprised the sight and taste of his blood didn’t make her feel disgusted. The first taste of him had her moaning with pleasure. It disturbed her on a small level that his blood had that effect on her but she didn’t stop. His hand curled into the back of her head to hold her in place.
“That’s it.” His lips brushed her shoulder. “My blood to yours.”
His mouth closed over her skin but she didn’t flinch away when a sharp point dragged over her. The slight pinch didn’t hurt so much as send a jolt of desire through her. She knew he had bitten into her enough to draw blood. He suckled gently at her shoulder.
Her mouth left his throat. “I want you again.”
He released her, licked the small wound he’d inflicted with the point of one of his fangs to heal it, and then pulled his face back to gaze at her with a grin.
“We both need rest. I want you too but that was a goodnight kiss.”
She nodded. “You suck.” She flushed. “I didn’t mean that literally. I’m just turned-on now.”
He pulled her closer. “It’s my duty to care for your needs but right now you need sleep more.”
Dusti tried to ignore her urge to reach down and stroke his cock until he couldn’t resist her, but the mental image of his damaged back kept her still. She decided to think about something else besides sex.
“Do you think Bat and Kraven are okay together? He looked really hurt when I saw him after we were attacked in the trucks.”
He rubbed her back. “He won’t allow anything to happen to her. He’ll protect her. I’m sure he’s mostly healed by now.”
“I’m more worried about who is going to protect him when he tells my sister he wants to mate with her.”
Drantos chuckled. “He’s tough and she’s small.”
“Have you met my sister? She’s going to try to hurt him.”
“It will work out.”
She lay in silence listening to his strong heartbeat. It soothed her and she couldn’t deny the feeling of rightness being in his arms created. The cabin remained totally quiet otherwise. She had to admit she didn’t miss the sound of traffic she always heard in her apartment.
“What are you thinking about?”
“My old life.”
His body tensed a little but relaxed again. With her ear pressed against his chest, she didn’t miss the change in his heart rate. It accelerated as if he were afraid. She lifted her head and peered up at him. His beautiful dark blue gaze met hers.
“Don’t leave me.”
His plea nearly broke her heart. He didn’t try to mask his emotions from her or hide the way his raspy voice hitched a little when he’d spoken. The idea of losing her definitely tore him up.
“I won’t. I didn’t really have that great of a life in Los Angeles. I’m just uncertain about this new one.”
“I promise we’ll be happy together. I won’t travel anymore on missions. Mated males stay near home. The responsibility will go to someone else to hunt down lawbreakers. I’ll be assigned duties here within the clan to keep me close to you.”
“I hadn’t even thought about that but I’m glad to hear it. I really wouldn’t want to be left here alone while you’re out of town. I don’t know anyone and I feel kind of like a sore thumb”
“You’re part of this clan. You’ll make friends and they’ll accept you. We’ll be happy, Dusti. I’ll make certain of it.”
“I believe you. I’m not uncertain about you and me. For the first time in my life, I know what home feels like. It’s here in your arms. It’s just that I don’t know about the rest of your people.”
Drantos smiled. It melted her heart.
“It’s this whole VampLycan thing,” she admitted.
“You’ll adjust. We’re not monsters. Sleep now. You’re tired. We’ll deal with all this tomorrow.”
She nodded and tucked her head against his chest again. Drantos brushed a gentle kiss on the top of her head, then snuggled her closer. She closed her eyes but worry for Bat still bothered her. Drantos rubbed her back, the caresses eventually lulling her to sleep.
Chapter Fourteen
Nightmares woke Dusti a few times during the night. It wasn’t a mystery what caused them. It was tough to wrap her mind around her new mate being punished and the barbaric method used. But Drantos healed at a phe
nomenal rate every time she checked on his injured back. It just emphasized the fact that he wasn’t human. No normal person could recover that fast.
First his skin no longer appeared split where the whip had struck. Then scabs formed but were gone within a few hours, just leaving angry red lines. Around dawn, those marks were so faint she felt the need to trace her fingertip over them just to be certain her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her.
Drantos slept heavily and she still felt anger that he’d been punished for something stupid. VampLycan laws were too foreign to her. It made her worry about what she could accidently do or say that might get him into trouble. She eased out of bed finally and decided to give herself a tour of his house. She put on one of Drantos's oversized shirts. It fell to mid thigh on her.
It was a nice place and well built. She liked the wood beams along the ceiling in the living room and the fireplace was beautiful. It looked as if he’d used river rocks, which ran from the hardwood floor all the way up to the ceiling.
She ended up in his kitchen. It was modern but she was more interested in finding something to eat than exploring the rest of his home. She settled on a bowl of microwavable oatmeal and sat at the counter. Two barstools made a nice eating area that separated the kitchen from the living room.
As she ate, she thought about her new circumstances. Her life would never be the same. She’d agreed to be Drantos’s mate and that meant having to adjust to life in Alaska with a bunch of VampLycans. It was tough to wrap her mind around the reality of them even existing.
Mom, why didn’t you tell us what you were?
There had been no reason for Drantos to lie to her about that. Decker Filmore was a VampLycan and way worse than just a shitty grandfather. He was some kind of supernatural villain. She didn’t blame her mother for running away but she should have told her daughters the truth. It stung and left Dusti feeling hurt.
Had her dad known? How could her mom hide it from the man she loved and lived with? It made her feel as if her entire childhood had been a lie.