By The Moon (Live By Night #3)

Chapter Three

L ouis entered the club and scanned the area. It was crowded, which was no surprise. It was the weekend, and people came out to celebrate the end of the working week. Relax and have some fun. Whatever that may be. Louis searched until he found the person he was looking for. His mate sat at the bar.

Hardening his jaw, his lean, toned body tensing, Louis saw a man approach his mate and try to engage him in conversation. Nope, that wasn’t happening. Jerome was his and Louis was finally going to do something about it. The man needed to get the hell away from Louis’ mate.

Why was Jerome here, though? In a fucking gay bar. His mate in a fucking gay bar. The ID must be good considering Jerome wasn’t old enough to be in one. Or maybe someone thought he was fresh meat and let him inside. Didn’t matter either way.

Louis walked over to the bar, making sure he could see his mate and the man trying to chat him up. His mate’s dark skin glowed under the lights and Louis’ mouth watered with the need to taste it. As he reached his mate, he heard Jerome tell the man he didn’t want to go anywhere with him.

The man shrugged a shoulder and leaned on the bar all casual, and that made Louis pull his lips back in a snarl. His fangs elongated, and he struggled to pull his vampire instincts back. Now wasn’t the time to let his mate side out, not when his mate didn’t even know what Louis was.

Louis wasn’t even sure if Jerome remembered him.

Jerome shook his head. “I said no, so please leave me alone. If I was interested, we would already be doing something, but I’m not, so go.”

“Come on. I can tell you’re playing hard to get. Let’s find a nice dark corner and I can show you what this mouth can do.”

Jerome chuckled and Louis stepped closer. “Thanks, but no.”

Louis took another step closer at the same time as the man did but Jerome held his hand up. “Come on. You come to a gay club and say no? Why the fuck you here if you’re not gonna put out?”

“Put out? Such a nice way of saying fucking.”

The guy shrugged and smirked. “Or I could just drop to my knees and blow you. Bet you got a nice long thick cock.”

And now it was time for Louis to make himself known. “Jerome.”

His mate slowly turned to face him, his eyes growing wide when he saw Louis. He said nothing for a few seconds, then whispered, “You.”

“Can’t you see we’re busy here?”

Louis looked at the human before dismissing him. “He’s here with me. Leave us.”

“I’m here with him,” Jerome echoed.

The man glared, then disappeared into the growing crowd, and Louis was finally standing next to his mate. “Hi.”

“I remember you.”

Louis closed his eyes briefly. “I’d hoped you would, but it was a long time ago.”

“You kept me safe.”

Nodding, Louis asked, “How are you?”

Jerome stood and looked into Louis' eyes. Louis wanted to get closer, but resisted the urge. “You came to me, didn’t you?”

“What do you mean?” Louis furrowed his brow. He’d only gone near Jerome when he was sleeping. Jerome should have no memory.

“When Mom…passed. You came at night. Helped me sleep. I remember you. I dreamed about you.” Tilting his head, Jerome continued to look into Louis’ eyes. “Who are you?”

Louis shook his head, glancing around the club. “It’s not something to discuss here.”

Nodding, Jerome glanced around the club. “Then we should leave.”

Jerome pushed past Louis and he breathed deep, inhaling his mate’s tantalizing aroma. His fangs threatened to drop again as Louis spun on his heel, following Jerome outside. Once there, he paused and searched the area, finding his mate standing over near the main road.

Louis followed. “Cab?” Jerome asked when Louis reached him.

“Your place or mine?”

“Yours?” Jerome answered immediately. “My sister is home from college.”

Crowding Jerome, Louis asked, “Can I trust you?”

Without hesitating, Jerome answered, “Yes.”

Taking Jerome’s hand in his, he concentrated on his apartment and took them there. He grabbed Jerome as he sagged and held him as he panted. “Deep breaths.”

“Now that’s one way to get around.” Straightening, Jerome stared at Louis, but he didn’t appear afraid of him, only more curious. “What are you?”

“Vampire.”

Jerome nodded. “I always knew there was something different about you. Even back then when you saved me. I knew you weren’t the same as me.”

“I’ve watched over you. Kept you safe.”

“I’ve felt you from time to time and I knew you wouldn’t hurt me. How would I know that?”

“Because you’re mine.”

“I feel like I’m yours,” Jerome whispered. “I feel like I’ve been waiting for you to come back to me.”

“We should talk before anything happens.”

Jerome smiled. “What’s going to happen, and what’s your name? You never told me when I was younger.”

“Louis. My name is Louis.” Louis reached out to touch Jerome but dropped his hand before sliding his fingers over Jerome’s honey skin.

Jerome closed the gap between them and took Louis’ hand in his own. “Are you mine too, Louis?”

“Since the moment we met.” From that second, Jerome was the only person Louis thought about, the only one he had on his mind. The one he lived his life for.

“I was twelve. That’s why you stayed away.”

Nodding, Louis moved over to the sofa and sat. “Please sit with me so we can talk.”

“How am I yours?” Jerome sat next to him, close enough that Louis could feel his body heat. He leaned into it, closing his eyes and didn’t open them when he felt a puff of air on his lips. “Please,” he murmured. Jerome’s lips touched his once, twice, then a third time before moving away. “I want more.”

Opening his eyes, Louis nodded. “Me too, but we need to talk.”

“Why? What’s that important that we pause to talk?”

“If we have sex and I bite you, you’re mine.”

“Okay.” Jerome smiled. “I’m not seeing the bad in that. I’ve waited years for you. I knew you existed, knew there was something between us, but you never appeared. When I was awake, that is.”

“I couldn’t see you then. The need to be with you was overwhelming and you were just a child. I had to stay away. The only time I gave in was when your mother passed away, but you know that already. I knew you needed me and I needed to be there for you.”

“And what do you want now?”

Louis licked his lips, his eyes dropping to Jerome’s plump ones. “You know,” he whispered.

“I do,” Jerome murmured, “But we need to talk.” Jerome gave a slight smile. “Isn’t that what you said?”

“Us being mates is forever. Once I bite you during sex you can’t decide you’ve had enough. There is no walking away once that happens.”

“What about my degree?”

“I would never stop you from pursuing it, because I know how hard you’ve worked to earn your place. I would want you to be careful, though. There are bad vampires.”

“Like there are bad humans. I have to be careful either way.”

“You’ll live longer, too. Maybe gain some of my speed, strength, agility.”

“Awesome.” Jerome paused, a frown developing. “What about my family? Can I tell them?”

Louis winced and turned away. “I don’t want to tell you what to do.”

“I would have to be careful when I visit them.”

His mate was far too understanding. “You’re taking this much more calmly than I thought you would.”

Smiling, Jerome leaned forward and slid his lips over Louis’, making Louis gasp and want more. “I’ve always known you meant something to me. I’ve waited for you for what feels like forever. I understand why you stayed away. If we’d seen each other when I was going through puberty I wouldn’t have cared about whether I was old enough or not. I would have jumped you.”

“You were hard to resist, especially when you grew your hair long.”

Jerome chuckled softly and Louis remembered seeing him with his hair loose around his shoulders. Jerome had always kept it tied back, but then one day it was down and all Louis could think about was grabbing it as they fucked. That summer had been a long and hard one, and no matter how many times Louis had jacked off, he was constantly hard and leaking and desperate for his mate.

“My so called rebellious year. Dad threatened to cut it himself if I didn’t go to the barbers. Probably because he was tired of me always complaining about it.”

“I liked it. I had… it kept me entertained.”

“I bet it did,” Jerome murmured. Louis grinned, then sighed when Jerome kissed him. “Have we talked enough now?”

“I don’t know.”

“Let’s take this somewhere else. I don’t want my first time to be on a sofa.”

“I knew you hadn’t been with another man.” Knowing he would be the first man to touch his mate, to do things to his mate, had him fighting back the urge to go all caveman on Jerome.

Staring at his gorgeous mate, feeling all the love he had for Jerome almost reduced Louis to tears. He was so unbelievably lucky and he was never going to walk away now he had his mate. “Jerome,” he whispered. “I’ve only wanted you and now I can have you.”

“You can, so no more talk. I think we’ve both waited enough, don’t you?”

Louis nodded and lead Jerome to his bedroom. He’d anticipated this moment, so his room was clean with fresh bedding. He let go of Jerome’s hand and lit the candles he had around the room then turned to his mate. “Too much?”

Jerome smiled, shaking his head as he approached and looped his arms over Louis’ shoulders. “Perfect. You’ve thought about this moment.”

“I want to make it special for you.”

“You are. I finally have you and now I know why I had this need to find you, to speak to you. We were always meant to be together.”

Louis closed his eyes and lowered his head until their foreheads touched. There was only an inch or so difference in their height, so for him, it was perfect. This moment was perfect. All the years he’d watched and waited, wanting his mate to experience life, had been worth it, because they were here now.

“No more words, Louis. No more thinking. Kiss me.”

Louis opened his eyes and stared into Jerome’s hazel ones. “Whatever you want.” He slid his lips over Jerome’s, feeling the puff of air as Jerome sighed into their kiss. Jerome slipped his tongue out and Louis licked it then sucked it into his mouth.

Shivering, Jerome clung to Louis and Louis held him tight as he deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue into Jerome’s mouth and tangling their tongues together. Moaning, Louis slid his hands into Jerome’s curls and tugged on them, moving Jerome’s head so he could deepen the kiss more.

Jerome moaned and arched into Louis, and Louis fought back the urge to strip his mate naked and fuck him. Jerome hadn’t had sex before, so Louis needed to take his time and prepare his mate properly so there was as little pain as possible when they finally came together.

“Louis,” Jerome whispered.

“Tell me what you want.”

“You. I want you. Make me yours.”

Louis picked Jerome up and lay him on the bed. Staring down at his gorgeous mate, Louis traced his fingers over Jerome’s face, smiling when Jerome tilted his head and kissed them. Removing his hand, Louis slowly unbuttoned his shirt and let it slip from his shoulders.

Jerome sat up and ran his hand over Louis’ abs and chest. “Mine.”

“Always.”