Chapter Eight
Max
Iwas trying to get through some final cramming-information-into-my-brain in when I heard Rian talking to Cindy in their room.
“Did you take that sock, Miss?”
I smiled.
“It’s not nice to steal—oh, we better go check up on Luca,” Rian spoke in a way that was partially absent, which told me he was sensing something through the bond he now shared with Luca.
I wasn’t sure what Luca was doing, but if he was upset enough for Rian to feel it on the second floor, it couldn’t be great.
My first instinct was to run after Rian, because Luca was mine now too—the thought made me blush, but I didn’t hate it—but I knew it was better to give them space.
As the one who had turned Luca, Rian was especially close to him and sometimes that was the bond you needed instead of whatever fledgling thing Luca and I had.
Rian didn’t alert me, either, which could mean one of two things: either time was of the essence to get to Luca, or he didn’t think it was something I could help with the way he could. It was a toss-up, really.
I got off the bed where I’d been studying and walked out of the room, even though I felt like running. I was still going to give them space, I just couldn’t not go.
Cindy chirped at me from the top of the stairs, and I scooped her up and put her on my shoulder. We went downstairs, and since I heard Luca and Rian murmuring in the kitchen, I walked over to the giant cat tree in the living room and let Cindy jump to her nest up top.
Then I finally went into the kitchen.
Rian was hugging Luca who sat on the window seat.
“We always knew this could happen,” Rian murmured. “But you can still visit Nonna.”
Luca sniffled. “I know.”
I rounded the island and the dining table, then scooped Luca up as soon as Rian stepped back.
Luca yelped, then smiled as I carried him to the couch. He put his head on my shoulder and sighed. Rian gestured toward the laundry room and I nodded.
I took my precious cargo to the couch and sat in the corner, then let him readjust to straddle my body. I pulled a fleece blanket to cover us, and he relaxed with a sigh.
“Your mom?” I made an educated guess.
“Yeah.”
“I’m so sorry, darling.”
He tensed ever so slightly, then relaxed again. “That’s the first time you’ve called me that.”
“Huh? Oh.” I flushed a little.
“I liked it.”
“Good to know.”
We just sat there, soaking in the closeness and comfort, both physical and emotional.
Eventually, Luca sighed. “I think I’ll be okay. But I want to visit Nonna when I go to New York next month.”
“Oh, has that been decided?” I asked, because last I knew, there hadn’t been a set time.
“Uh-huh, the week after Valentine’s. It’s likely going to be a Wednesday when the press conference is held.”
“Well I’ll be done with school by then, and I’m sure Ben will gladly take time off work.”
He lifted his face from my neck and frowned. “What?”
“You’re not going alone.”
“If Max and Ben weren’t offering, I would go with you,” Rian said firmly from the doorway. “Now that I know they are, I’m going to get you a hotel. You’re going to need a good place to chill.”
Luca swallowed hard. “Are you sure I’m ready to be around that many people?”
Rian shrugged. “I don’t see why not. Unless something changes drastically in the next few weeks, with the boys with you, I think you’re stable.”
Luca frowned and his gaze changed, his attention turning inward. “Haven’t I had it really easy, though?”
Rian walked over and sat next to us, then took Luca’s hand.
“For one, I’ve been there, which helps. A lot of the stories about out of control newly bitten vampires come from those who are turned by strangers in a last resort situation or if someone has been turned and then abandoned to fend for themselves.
You’ve been fed consistently by very potent blood, and you’ve been in a safe environment. ”
“With safe people who you know would back you up if you needed more safety or to be reined back,” I added quietly, stroking Luca’s back.
He took a deep breath and exhaled. “Okay.”
We heard Brodie’s truck and Rian leaned in to kiss Luca’s cheek. “You’ll be fine.”
Then he left to go help the others carry everything in. It was almost the full moon, and we’d have a big family cookout for fun. The yard was still snowy, but Brodie and Holden had decided to clear an area for the grill, and we’d just carry the food in when it was done.
Luca cuddled up against me again, and we stayed like that until Brodie peered into the room.
“Hey, Luca? Can I borrow you for a bit?”
Luca sat up and blinked. “Uh, of course. What’s up?”
“I just thought we should hang out. We haven’t done that much, and maybe you’d get something out of working out with me? I was heading to the gym.” Brodie leaned his shoulder against the doorframe, his expression open as he smiled slightly.
“Oh.” Luca seemed surprised, but then said, “I think I’d like that.”
“I’m going to go change into my workout gear. If you want to do the same…?”
“Yeah. Cool.” Luca smiled, obviously pleased.
Brodie left to jog up the stairs, and Luca, still appearing a bit taken aback, looked at me.
“I guess you’re going to work out with the Alpha,” I teased.
He playfully nudged my shoulder with his knuckles, then leaned in to kiss me gently. “Thank you.”
“Of course. I’ll go finish studying while you do your thing.”
He got off my lap in one smooth move and I followed him upstairs. Since his room had his stuff, he went to change there while I returned to my books in Ben’s and my room.
I heard Luca and Brodie talking as they went downstairs and headed out into the garage building that now housed storage space, Brodie’s mini gym, and an attached chicken coop for the colder months.
The chicken would have a cozy indoor space next fall and winter, but we didn’t have any yet, because we’d wanted to wait until spring.
A while later, Rian appeared at my door.
“What’s up?” I asked, because he looked more thoughtful than usual.
“I wanted to ask you if you’ve heard Luca humming more lately?”
I immediately nodded. “Definitely.”
“Do you think he’d be ready for a new guitar?”
Ah. Rian had been worried about that from the start. He’d mentioned to me that while Luca broke down after the death of Will and all that happened, he not only shaved his head but also trashed his acoustic guitar, Dolly.
“I don’t know. We could try?”
He sighed and walked closer, then sat on the edge of the bed next to me. “It’s so difficult to know what he needs, but the music is one thing I don’t want him to feel pressured to do.”
“What if I try to gauge the situation while we’re in New York?” I asked, my heart lurching a little at the thought of a city that massive.
Rian heard the change in my heartbeat and squeezed my arm.
“It’s gonna be fine. You know Luca is from the area.
He knows the city like the back of his hand, especially the places he needs to go on this trip.
I’ll also make sure the hotel isn’t too far from the label’s headquarters where they’ll have the press conference. ”
Somehow, that relaxed me. “Okay. Thank you.”
“Of course. It’ll still be a lot for all three of you, but you’ll have one another and that’s the most important thing, right?”
There was understanding in his gaze, and I realized he either had talked to Luca or had overheard us somewhere, somehow, and knew that all three of us were together. Not that it was a surprise or something the pack wouldn’t have seen coming.
“Yeah. It’s… everything.”
“Rian? Did you wash my blue sweatshirt?” Carys called out from the hallway.
“Ah, duty calls.” He patted my arm again and left the room.
It was still difficult sometimes to think that the man was actually nearly two hundred years old, when he looked like he was in his mid-twenties at most. Then again Holden was in his sixties and looked forty.
While vampires’ outward aging basically stopped when they were turned, when a human was turned to a wolf, theirs just slowed down significantly.
Apparently Holden didn’t look like he’d aged at all since he was turned after an incident on the job.
The whole idea about being turned was sort of alien to me. As a wolf, I was what I was since birth, and if something managed to injure me enough, I’d die even though I healed faster.
Vampires were always turned, and humans could become either of the other species. I was somewhat fascinated by all those differences.
Like the fact that now when Luca needed to feed and the arousal hit me like a freight train, I could actually let it ride. Because we were more now, not just platonic friends.
I swallowed hard at the thought and did my best to concentrate on the book in my hands again.
About an hour later, I heard the front door, then laughter and the thumping of someone jogging up the stairs. There were two sets of steps, and I knew it was Brodie and Luca heading for their respective showers.
Ten minutes after that, Luca, looking both pale but flushed from the shower, slinked into my room. He was shirtless in only a pair of worn-out sweats I was pretty sure were Ben’s.
“What’s up?” I asked, because his expression was… predatory.
“I… uh… I’m really hungry.” He seemed equally ready to pounce and confused in a way that wasn’t familiar to me.
“Huh. Maybe it’s the working out?”
“Probably. I’ll have to ask Rian.” He took my book and put it on the bedside table, then climbed onto the bed and straddled me.
I was a bit puzzled at this change. “Hi.”
Luca smiled, then winced, and a droplet of blood rolled down his chin. “Shit.”
Wiped it off with my thumb. “Your fangs are a bit active, sweetheart,” I teased.
The intensity in his eyes and the way he poked at his fangs with his tongue was almost unsettling. I realized I really hadn’t seen him this hungry before.
His attention was on the pulse on my neck, and I tilted my head, suddenly feeling like a prey taunting the predator in the best of ways. He licked his lips.
“Go on,” I murmured, wanting to see where this was going.
For some reason, that made him shake off the stupor. He blinked a few times, then seemed to realize he’d been spellbound by my heartbeat, and looked almost embarrassed.
“Shit, that was….”
“That was the first time you’ve been hungry.” I kept my tone kind. “And you still are. So, take a bite.”
He leaned forward minutely, then back again, then flicked his gaze to my eyes and back to my neck, and finally, too quickly for the human eye to see the movement, moved in and bit through the familiar spot.
I didn’t know if it was that he seemed a little dangerous or what, but this time the bite really hit me hard.
I moaned immediately, the feel-good things swamping my brain and making me hard in seconds.
Luca moaned as if echoing me, as he took long pulls of my blood, one hand around the back of my neck to hold me in place, the other sliding down my chest and pressing his palm over my dick.
I whimpered. I wasn’t proud of the sound, but I could hear the amusement in the little huff he let out. Then he made a questioning noise, all the while drinking from me.
“Y-Yes,” I managed to push out.
He snuck his hand under the waistband of my pants and underwear, and wrapped his long, graceful fingers around my cock for the first time.
I tightened my hold of his hips, and he made a happy sound. When had I grabbed him there?
“You too?” I gasped out the words.
He made an affirmative noise, and I forced myself to let go of his right hip to touch him as he was touching me.
I was able to hold back my claws, just barely, as I slipped my hand into his—Ben’s—sweats. Luca hadn’t bothered with underwear, so his cock was right there, hard and cool against my hot palm.
It had been a long time since I touched a dick that wasn’t mine, but it wasn’t rocket science. Besides, this was Luca, and he made a happy, rumbly sound against my neck, then started to jerk me off while I struggled to do the same to him.
My coordination was shit, but it didn’t seem to matter, and then suddenly he pulled his fangs out, slammed his mouth over mine, and fisted my hair as he kissed me ravenously.
The mingling taste of blood and us was too much. I groaned long and loud into his mouth as I came like a geyser in his hand. He used the same hand to wrap around mine and helped me keep rhythm for a few moments until he, too, erupted over our joined fingers.
He wrenched his mouth off mine and put his forehead against my shoulder as we panted for breath for a while.
Then he chuckled, breathless and sounding surprised. “Well… that was….”
“Uh-huh.” I snorted, then snickered.
The room smelled like sex. We needed to clean up soon.
“I don’t know where it all came from,” he said once he’d calmed down enough to get words out.
I looked at our messy hands—his much messier than mine—and burst out laughing.
Luca noticed. “Jesus Christ, not that!” Then he laughed, too, and flopped off my lap, hand carefully in the air.
Something in me fixated on those slim fingers. I grabbed his wrist and leaned closer, bringing his hand to my mouth. I licked his skin, tasting us together, and my cock, still out of my pants, twitched.
“Holy shit, Max,” Luca breathed, his gaze fixed on what I was doing.
Once his hand was clean, I leaned in and kissed him. Both of us were hard again, but we ignored our dicks, tucked them away a bit awkwardly, and curled up on the bed together.
“I think you need to talk to Rian about that.” I had my head on his chest, as he played with my hair.
“Yeah. The hunger… it was different.”
“Probably the burned calories from the workout, but he should know just in case.”
“Right.” He kissed my forehead and sighed happily. “Should we air the room out before Ben gets home?”
I grinned. “Nah.”