Chapter 25 #2
“Yes, I want you,” Cameron said, his mind clearing but his fangs relentless. It was weird trying to speak around them. He’d never had to do that before. “I want this. Of course I do.”
“Then take me,” Thomas said, drawing his free leg up to cradle Cameron’s hip. He dragged a palm down Cameron’s chest until it was anchored at his side. “Your fangs are out. If you’re hungry, feed. You have consent.”
Thomas stretched his neck against the pillow, and Cameron stared down at him in awe. He was so… beautiful and willingly vulnerable. It scared Cameron a little.
“I’ve never fed properly before,” he said, his fangs throbbing harder the longer he resisted. He felt like a bear with a fawn pinned beneath him. “Is there anything I should… How do I…”
“My darling, you are a sensitive and perceptive vampire. It’ll come naturally, trust me.” He lifted his chin and closed his eyes, waiting.
Cameron slid his palm against the sheets, lowering himself until his face was just above Thomas’s neck.
His soft scent radiated from the warmth of his skin, and Cameron touched his nose to him, closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.
He was nervous and hungrier than he’d ever been in his life, but he wanted to get this right.
“Cameron, please.” Thomas was breathless as his hands slipped around to the dip in the small of Cameron’s back. His fingertips pressed into his flesh, urging.
Cameron opened his mouth, hesitated once more, then softly bit into Thomas’s neck. His skin was tight, hot and sweet, and the feeling of his fangs sinking into him was dizzying and seductive. The complex taste of his blood washed over Cameron’s palate and flooded his senses.
It was much more than winter and almond blossoms—which was a tricky, mind-bending concurrence of elements in and of itself. The innate layers were emotional and fortifying, because this wasn’t just consuming Thomas’s scent. This was his life blood and the very essence of his being.
As Cameron fed deeper, tasting and exploring, he felt Thomas uncoil beneath him.
Both physically and somewhere more profound within him, Thomas utterly surrendered himself to Cameron’s will.
He pulled, selfishly wanting him even more, but winced when he felt the distinct slip of something intangible but intense.
Something he could only see and sense through the ancient enchantment of his own vampiric nature.
The moment Cameron lifted his head and looked into Thomas’s glowing eyes, the supernatural energy between them grew and blossomed—manifested into soft, beautiful and colorful light. Greens and blues and silvers floating within the silent air.
Thomas inhaled a deep breath as he stared, awestruck.
There was a warm, cocooning sensation, as if they were at the center of an unopened flower bud.
Then the magic constricted tightly and all the light fused into them.
Cameron gasped, startled and perplexed by the heat and weight filling his center and drawing him down to Thomas.
Into him? As if he were melding and becoming part of him, somehow.
When Cameron’s sense of wonder was just beginning to edge into panic from the weight and pressure, it all dissipated. Cameron exhaled as the magic fizzled out and the light surrounding them faded. He looked around. The room was lit with gentle moonlight and silent once more.
“Are you okay?” Cameron whipped his head down to Thomas, who stared up at him with his normal heather gaze.
Thomas’s hands traced up the curve of Cameron’s spine. “I’m wonderful,” he said, a gentle smile on his lips. “And you?”
“I think I’m fine…” Cameron lifted his hips to give the man some space, for God’s sake.
“What did I just do? Is this normal with feeding from another vampire?” His core felt warm, tingly and heavy.
He glanced down between them to see if they were physically connected to each other—attached at the groin like conjoined twins. It felt as if they were.
“Cam, my darling, look at me.”
Cameron paused in his scrutinizing and met Thomas’s eyes once more. The latter swallowed and took a visible breath.
“You fed from me, searching and wanting me more intensely,” Thomas went on. “I said yes to your desire and will, and now we are mated. I am yours to discover, and you are mine.”
They watched each other in the quiet as Cameron took that in. Thomas lifted one hand and gently caressed his fingers along Cameron’s jawline.
“We’re bonded,” Cameron said simply.
“Yes.”
“Not just on paper, but actually. Physically. Permanently.”
“Yes.”
“And… you’re pleased with this?”
“I am,” Thomas confirmed. “Very.”
Cameron nodded. He didn’t know what came over him next, but he bent down and pressed a kiss to Thomas’s mouth. Thomas blinked in sheer surprise when Cameron lifted briefly, but when he leaned into him once more, Thomas parted his lips, raised his chin and received Cameron with a deep, audible sigh.
Cameron brought a hand up to cup Thomas’s face as their mouths moved and their tongues played, caressed and tasted. Some barrier inside of Cameron had given way to pure relief and joy, and the wave of it was dominating his mind and senses.
Thomas had officially, unequivocally accepted him in all his prickly weirdness. He didn’t care that Cameron had never properly fed before, or that he couldn’t scent other vampires and was socially awkward. That he was embarrassingly inexperienced at sex and intimacy.
Thomas had wanted him anyway. He’d said yes despite these things and when he hadn’t even needed to. Cameron would have taken care of him and treated him well regardless, forever. But he cared for Cameron in return. He loved him.
It felt like a miracle.
The two of them indulged in soft, sensual kisses while basking in the blue-silver haze of the night. Cameron traced his lips along Thomas’s sharp jawline and down to his beautiful neck. He kissed and breathed him across the span of his collarbone, all the while amazed, grateful and mesmerized.
He lifted his head, wanting to look into Thomas’s face to make sure he was still fine.
That this was all real and not a distorted figment of his imagination.
When he did, Cameron inhaled quietly. Thomas’s eyes were alighted, but they had changed.
They weren’t the color of lightning anymore.
Now, their hue was more like the deep aqua of a tropical sea.
A perfect blend of emerald and indigo, backlit by warm sunlight.
“Your eyes have changed,” Cameron said, sweeping the heft of Thomas’s dark hair from his forehead to see him pristinely. “They’re turquoise now.”
“I’ve heard that happens when two natures merge within a bond. Your irises are likely the same.”
“Incredible…” Cameron kept staring into his face, truly awestruck. Thomas adjusted slightly beneath him and Cameron remembered himself. He shifted from atop his frame. “I’m sorry. I keep staring at you like a simpleton.”
“I don’t mind,” Thomas said, turning his head against the pillow as Cameron lay on his back beside him. “It does make me a little self-conscious, but I can tell you’re processing. It’s alright.”
Cameron met his eyes. “Are you processing?”
“I am. In my own ways.”
He nodded, then shifted his head to look up at the ceiling. “Before, I had promised that I was fine with you taking a lover when you desired it. I’m afraid I’ve gone and made that prospect a bit… complicated.”
“I’d much prefer to have you as my lover, Cameron. If you’re willing to try?”
Cameron turned his head again to meet Thomas’s gaze. “I am. I… may not excel at it, necessarily, but I can try.”
Thomas shifted and cuddled into Cameron’s side. “Thank you. You’re exceptionally skilled at kissing, so I have faith in you.”
“Am I?” Cameron said, surprised and encouraged by this glowing review.
Thomas closed his alighted eyes. “You are.” He said nothing more.
His breathing evened and slowed, and his facial features relaxed.
Cameron turned into him so that he could lace an arm around Thomas and hold him closer.
Cameron closed his eyes and was lulled to sleep by the warmth of Thomas’s frame and the lovely scent of his essence.
Cameron’s body felt warm and light when his eyes blinked open.
The sunlight was golden, which meant the sky was at least partially clear for once.
A sweet, clean and nutty fragrance wafted around him, and he realized he no longer lay beside Thomas.
The man was sitting upright, over him with his back against the headboard and Cameron’s head rested on his soft, pajama-clad thigh.
His long fingers were lovingly caressing Cameron’s head and face.
Pulling his wits about him, Cameron dragged himself upright. “Good morning.” He paused, surprised to see Thomas’s eyes glowing.
“Good morning,” Thomas said coolly.
“Why are your eyes alighted?” Cameron asked frankly. “Did they not burn out from last night?” He didn’t know all the rules about a vampire’s eyes alighting, but this seemed odd.
Thomas closed his bright eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose with his pale fingers. “The fact of the matter is, I’m a horny bastard. And I’ve been sitting here contemplating what I could do to rectify this without pressuring or offending you.”
“Offending me?” Cameron asked, puzzled but concerned. “Why would you offend me? If… if there’s something you need me to do, tell me.”
Thomas dropped his hand. They watched each other in the stillness, and it was clear to Cameron that Thomas was deliberating in his mind. Grappling with the filter between his thoughts and his words.
“I don’t want you to run away from me again.”
“I will not,” Cameron said, slightly embarrassed at the memory.
Thomas stared at him with his glowing eyes. His Adam’s apple dipped within the stretch of his creamy neck. “Will you sit on the edge of the bed, please?”
“Yes,” Cameron said, perplexed but moving as asked. Thomas moved with him, and by the time Cameron’s feet were planted firmly on the floor, Thomas had slinked in front of him. He rested on his knees, eyes glowing and with his palms flat against the sheets on either side of Cameron’s hips.
“I just… I need to have you in some carnal way. I want you to relax, and whatever you offer me, I will happily receive. Do you understand?”
Swallowing hard, Cameron took a breath. “Not really.”
“I want you to come,” Thomas said plainly. “I want you to have an orgasm while my mouth is on you. I would like to taste you and know without doubt that I’ve pleased you. Is that clearer?”
“Quite.” Cameron ran a palm down his face and took another intentional breath.
“Can I do that to you?” Thomas asked. “Are you comfortable with it?”
“I… I am. Yes. But should I—Would it be better if I did this for you? Wouldn’t that help to, um… ease your frustration more? I’d be happy to try.”
“No. Not right now, that’s not what I want.” He leaned and slid his hands up Cameron’s hips until his fingers were hooked in the band of his briefs. “Will you lift, please?”
Cameron steadied himself with his palms and raised his hips from the mattress.
Thomas pulled and guided the stretchy black material around the curve of his backside, then over his thighs and down the length of Cameron’s legs until they were at his feet.
Thomas slipped them past the final barriers and then set Cameron’s underwear aside.
A flash of heat crawled up Cameron’s neck and face from the reality that he was sitting there stark naked, in broad daylight and with his cock and balls inches away from Thomas’s face.
The embarrassment of it was overwhelming and he could barely breathe because it felt as if all his organs had stuffed themselves inside his chest and throat.
He did want to run away, or make a silly joke.
Anything to lighten the awkward tension.
“Merciful gods, you are beautiful.”
Cameron glanced down to find Thomas staring up at him with his aquamarine irises. He lifted from his position, then rested his palms against Cameron’s knees and leaned until they were practically nose to nose.
“Cameron, you’re beautiful,” Thomas repeated, almost a whisper.
“How lucky am I that you’ve chosen me? That you’ve gifted your love, body and nature to me.
” Thomas tilted his head and softly pressed into his mouth.
Cameron received him, lips parted, and relaxed his shoulders.
The tenderness of the kiss and Thomas’s words calmed and reassured him until, slowly, the tension in his chest ebbed.
Thomas pulled up from him and spoke quietly. “Are you okay, my darling? May I please you?”
Cameron exhaled, his own eyes burning brightly as he nodded. “Yes. Okay.”