17. Rowan
SEVENTEEN
ROWAN
They were good together, but Rowan hadn’t realized offering Lane forever was asking him to give anything up.
Rowan hadn’t been a witch. Or maybe he had, he wouldn’t know.
Cris had said he was a human who’d fallen in love and asked to stay by his side without end.
They’d left Rowan’s hometown—to this day, he still had no idea where he’d been born—so he could “escape” a difficult life.
By the time Rowan suspected Cris had fabricated the whole story, it had been too late to search for anyone who might have known him.
To Rowan, none of it mattered now. Whether Cris abducted or seduced him. Whether he’d been human or a witch.
With Lane, it all mattered. Rowan wished there was a way to keep his witch at his side forever, like Onyx had with Nico.
Bonded fated mates. Nico hadn’t transformed when he linked his soul with the demon’s.
He remained a witch, and the humans mated to other demons had remained as they’d always been, their immortal life supported by their bond.
But Rowan wasn’t a demon and only possessed the smallest fraction of their powers. Vampires didn’t have fated mates. No one had mates except Eternals and the demons who’d fallen to Earth when Lucifer brought magic to the Human Realm.
All Rowan could do to keep Lane was ask him to become a vampire.
“We are good together,” he agreed, letting the rest go for now.
Lane grinned, as if Rowan’s agreement meant the world. “Why don’t we start with what we want our relationship to look like? Then work our way to a future together.”
“Start at the beginning? How logical.”
Lane chuckled and lightly tugged Rowan’s hair. His touch was teasing and oh so sweet. Pure pleasure drowned out Rowan’s embarrassment. So what if he jumped in too far, too fast? It hadn’t ruined anything.
“So, what do you want?” Lane asked more seriously. “What does our relationship look like to you? Exclusivity? Friends with benefits? Am I another lover who meets you at parties?”
Days ago, Rowan never would have admitted his true desires.
Never would have believed he could have them.
He’d seen them as nothing but risks. Temptations to lead him astray.
But Lane accepted each piece of him and had given him a safe place when he’d been at his most vulnerable. The least Rowan could do was be honest.
“I’ve never had a romantic relationship. I have partners I see at bite nights, with whom I play out scenes. That’s not what I want with you. I don’t even want to start there. Hell, we’ve already started.”
“I’d say so.”
Bolstered, Rowan continued, ignoring the nerves setting his insides shivering.
“I don’t ever give up control, and when this curse made it impossible to hold on, you were there.
I should have been horrified, and part of me was, but in the end, it was all right.
You made it okay. What you offered was better than completely mastering myself all the time.
And with a beginning like that, I want what I’ve always denied myself.
A romantic partner, nothing casual. I want to be yours and no one else’s. ”
Lane shone with delight, nothing held back in his smile. “Mine and no one else’s. Damnation, Rowan, that means everything. I’m relieved you don’t regret letting me in.”
“I don’t.”
“Good, because I want you too, exactly as you said. All mine. I want to be there when you need to let go, and I want you by my side when I need someone to lean on.”
“I will be,” Rowan promised. “I love how you let me take care of you, too.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Lane tipped Rowan’s head and kissed him deep, no build-up, just a rough claiming, leaving Rowan breathless. “There’s something to love in each piece of you.”
Rowan’s heart lurched, his words a whisper. “Thank you.”
Lane clasped his chin. “You don’t have to thank me.”
“I do.” How could he explain? “You finding something to love in the hidden pieces of me feels like a fantasy. A gift. I love all of you, too, Lane, for your strength and sincerity. For guiding me along this path with gentle hands. For trusting me.”
“Shit, Rowan, you’re going to strangle my poor heart.”
Rowan slid from his chair to his knees. “Let me pleasure you instead?”
Lane’s gaze turned hungry, his hands already undoing the button on his jeans. “I’ll give you anything you ask for.” He shoved his clothes out of the way and stroked himself roughly. “Open up, needy boy.”
Rowan obeyed, and Lane thrust inside, filling his mouth. He kept his glowing eyes trained upward, begging Lane to use him.
Lane worked himself in and out, caressing Rowan’s cheeks and lips with firm fingers. “Show me how much you can take.”
Rowan pushed forward, relaxing his throat until Lane cut off his air.
“Fucking hell,” Lane gasped, his hands in Rowan’s hair. He pulled back until he completely slipped from Rowan’s lips. “You going to kneel there while I use you?”
“Yes, Lane. I’ll be good for you. Promise.”
“Good and pretty and perfect?”
Rowan’s face burned. Butterflies filled his chest, their wings battering his heart to pieces. “Yes.”
“Good boy.” Lane pushed between his lips, fucking him with steady strokes. Filling him completely.
He moaned like he didn’t care who heard. Neither did Rowan. He fell into each touch, each solid thrust, each tug on his hair. When Lane came, praise tumbling free from his lips, Rowan felt invincible.
Lane withdrew his spent cock and wiped Rowan’s face. “My turn.” He helped Rowan to his feet and pushed him into the chair, spreading his legs, and sank to his knees. “Take yourself out.”
Rowan’s mind buzzed with pleasure as his hands automatically followed Lane’s direction, his clothes seeming to fall away of their own accord.
“Good.” Lane closed his hand around Rowan’s hard cock. “Now sit back and enjoy, sweetheart.”
It was like someone cut Rowan’s strings. He sagged, his hands finding Lane’s hair, toying with the sandy waves as Lane took him into his mouth and sucked.
“Please, Lane. Please. You’re so good to me.”
Lane groaned and took him deeper. Rowan was too close, soaring too high. He came, tugging Lane’s hair, Lane’s grip near bruising on his hips.
What a beginning this was. Lane was more than Rowan ever asked for. Now all he had to do was find a way to keep him forever.