Chapter 23
Valen
Iwas struggling with the doorknob to the bedroom.
“Do… Do you want me to help?” Archer offered, still held in my arms. “I can just—”
“Don’t you dare,” I shot back, trying to finagle it with my elbow. “I’m trying to be sexy.”
He grinned and I could tell he was trying not to laugh. “You’re doing a very good job, too.”
I glared at him. “Don’t patronize me.” Then, after fucking with the door for another ten seconds, unsuccessfully, I let out a long sigh. “Fuck this.”
With one fluid movement, I tossed Archer up and over my shoulder, holding him there with one arm.
He let out a sort of squeal, which served him right for picking on me.
However, as soon as my fingers dug into the back of his thigh, I could feel his cock twitch through his jeans.
With one hand free at last, I turned the knob and pushed the bedroom door open.
“Okay,” Archer admitted from his perch on my shoulder. “This is kind of sexy.”
“Good.” With another easy movement, I tossed him onto the bed, grinning as he squealed again. “Now take off your goddamn clothes before I rip them off your body.”
“Yes, sir,” he breathed, and the way he said it sent heat straight to my cock.
I watched hungrily as he pulled his shirt over his head, revealing that lean torso I’d memorized with my hands and mouth.
The afternoon sunlight slipping through the thick green velvet curtains caught the planes of his chest, highlighting every dip and curve in ways that made my cock ache.
But he was taking too long with his jeans, fumbling with the button like his hands were shaking.
The scent of his arousal was already thick in the air, mixing with the lingering traces of our previous encounter that seemed to have soaked into the very walls of this room.
I could feel my control fraying at the edges, that careful restraint I’d maintained for centuries dissolving in the face of his eager compliance.
“Faster,” I growled, stripping off my own shirt with vampire speed. “I want you naked. Now.”
“I’m trying,” he panted, finally getting his jeans open and shoving them down his hips along with his underwear. “But you’re looking at me like you want to devour me and it’s making it hard to concentrate.”
“That’s because I do want to devour you,” I said, crawling onto the bed as he kicked his clothes aside. “Every inch of you. I want to taste you everywhere, mark you as mine until there’s no question who you belong to for the rest of your life.”
The possessive words slipped out before I could stop them, but instead of pulling back, Archer’s pupils dilated and his cock twitched against his stomach. “Yes,” he whispered. “Please. Make me yours, Valen. Completely.”
Something primal and ancient roared to life in my chest at his words.
Mine. He wanted to be mine. Not just for tonight, not just for this semester, but completely.
The feeding bond we’d established was nothing compared to this.
This was soul-deep claiming that transcended any magical connection. This was real.
I settled between his spread thighs, my hands mapping the familiar territory of his body.
It was just how I remembered, soft and smooth and deliciously warm.
But everything felt different now, charged with the weight of the words we’d finally spoken.
Love. The concept still felt foreign in my mind, but watching Archer moan beneath my touch, seeing the trust and adoration in his blue eyes, made it feel real in a way I’d never experienced before.
“I love you,” I murmured against his throat, pressing kisses along his pulse point. “I love the way you challenge me, the way you refuse to back down even when you should. I love your stubborn streak and your smart mouth and the way you look at me like I’m not a monster.”
“You’re not a monster,” he gasped as I found that sensitive spot just below his ear. “You’re my vampire, my professor, my… everything.”
The words sent electricity through me, and I bit down gently on his throat, not hard enough to break skin but enough to make him cry out and buck against me. I could feel the energy starting to flow between us again, that intoxicating connection that made every sensation more intense.
“Tell me what you want,” I said, pulling back to look into his eyes. “Tonight isn’t about feeding or proving anything. Tonight is about love. So tell me how you want me to love you.”
His cheeks flushed pink, but his gaze didn’t waver. “I want you to fuck me slow,” he whispered. “I want to feel every inch of you, want this to last forever. And I want you to feed on our energy while you do it. I want to give you everything I have.”
The request made my cock throb painfully against my jeans. A slow and thorough fuck with the feeding connection amplifying every sensation. It would be exquisite torture for both of us.
“Are you sure?” I asked, even as my hands were already reaching for the lube in the nightstand drawer. “It could be overwhelming. The combination of physical sensation and energy transfer at that intensity...”
“I trust you,” he said simply, and those three words nearly undid me completely. “I know you won’t hurt me.”
I kissed him deeply, pouring all my love and gratitude into the contact. When I finally pulled away, both of us were breathing hard, the air between us crackling with anticipation and barely restrained hunger.
“Then let me take care of you,” I murmured, warming the lube between my palms. “Let me show you exactly how much I love you, darling.”
I slicked my fingers carefully, watching as Archer’s breathing grew heavier in anticipation.
The afternoon light filtering through the curtains painted golden stripes across his skin, making him look almost ethereal spread out beneath me.
Three centuries of existence, and I’d never seen anything more beautiful.
“Relax for me,” I murmured, pressing a gentle kiss to his inner thigh as I traced one finger around his entrance. “We have all the time in the world.”
He let out a shaky breath, his muscles loosening under my touch. “I love when you’re gentle like this,” he whispered. “It’s so different from how it was in your office.”
I chuckled softly, slowly working one finger inside him. “The office incident was pure lust. Here...” I crooked my finger, finding that spot that made him gasp and arch off the bed. “Here I can worship you the way you deserve.”
The energy connection sparked to life as his arousal spiked, that familiar warmth flowing from him to me. But this time it felt different. Deeper. Instead of the frantic hunger of our previous encounters, this was like sinking into a warm bath, luxurious and all-encompassing.
“More,” he breathed, his hips rolling against my hand. “Please, Valen. I need more.”
I added a second finger, stretching him slowly while pressing kisses along his hip bones.
The taste of his skin was intoxicating, salt and his unique musk that made my fangs ache with the urge to bite.
But not yet. Tonight was about savoring every moment, drawing out his pleasure until we were both drunk on it.
Biting him would require a new kind of conversation.
“You’re such a good boy,” I praised, fucking him with my fingers to open him further. “So beautiful, my darling. I could spend hours just torturing you like this.”
His cock was already leaking steadily against his stomach, and I could feel his desperation building through our bond. But every time he seemed close to begging, I’d slow my movements, keeping him right on that edge between pleasure and torture.
“Valen,” he whimpered, his hands fisting in the sheets. “I can’t... it’s too much. I need you inside me.”
“Not yet,” I said, adding a third finger and reveling in the way his back arched. “I want you so ready for me that you feel empty without my cock filling you.”
The crude words made him moan, his hips bucking against my hand. Through the feeding connection, I could feel his pleasure as if it were my own, that exquisite tension building in both our bodies simultaneously. It was like being caught in the most beautiful feedback loop imaginable.
When I finally judged him ready, I withdrew my fingers, ignoring his whine of protest. I stripped off my remaining clothes with shaking hands, my cock so hard it was almost painful.
The sight of him spread out before me, flushed and wanting and completely mine, made something primal roar to life in my chest.
“Look at me,” I commanded as I settled between his thighs, the head of my cock pressing against his entrance. “I want to see your eyes when I fuck you.”
Those blue eyes locked with mine, dark with arousal and bright with love. “Then do it,” he whispered. “Please fuck me.”
I pushed inside slowly, savoring every inch as his body opened up for me. The sensation was incredible, his tight heat surrounding my cock while waves of pleasure crashed through the feeding bond. But more than that was the emotional connection, the way he looked at me like I was his entire world.
“Fuck,” I breathed when I was buried to the hilt inside him, his tight hole throbbing around my cock. “You feel so perfect, darling. Like you were made just for me.”
“I was,” he gasped, his legs wrapping around my waist to pull me deeper. “That cock is far too perfect to have been meant for anyone else.” He reached up, grabbing my face and forcing my lips against him. “Now stop dicking around and fuck me like you mean it.”
The demand in his voice, combined with the tight clench of his body around my cock, shattered what remained of my restraint. I pulled back slowly, almost all the way out, before driving back in with a force that made him cry out beneath me.
“Like that?” I growled, setting a rhythm that was deep and thorough, just like he’d asked for. Each thrust sent pleasure cascading through both of us via the feeding connection, creating waves of sensation that built on themselves until I could barely think straight.
“Yes,” he moaned, his nails digging into my shoulders. “Just like that. God, Valen, you feel so good inside me.”
I could feel his energy flowing into me with each stroke, rich and intoxicating in a way that made my entire body hum with power.
But more than the feeding, it was the emotional connection that overwhelmed me.
Every gasp and moan he made, every flutter of his muscles around my cock, felt like a declaration of love.
“Mine,” I whispered against his throat, my fangs grazing his pulse without breaking skin. “You’re mine, Archer. No one else gets to have you like this.”
“Yes,” he agreed breathlessly, his hips meeting my thrusts with desperate need. “I’m yours. I don’t want anyone else, Valen. Just you.”
The possessive satisfaction that flooded through me at his words was almost as intense as the physical pleasure.
I’d never claimed anyone like this before.
I’d never wanted to. But with Archer writhing beneath me, giving me everything he had, I understood the appeal.
This beautiful, stubborn, brave young man was mine, and I was never letting him go.
I shifted the angle of my thrusts, finding that spot inside him that made him moan loud enough that the neighbors might hear. His cry of pleasure echoed through the room, and I felt the spike of his arousal through our bond like lightning in my veins.
“There,” he gasped, his back arching off the bed. “Right there, please don’t stop. Oh my god please don’t stop.”
I aimed for that spot with each thrust, watching as his eyes rolled back and his mouth fell open in silent ecstasy.
The feeding connection was so strong now that I could barely tell where my pleasure ended and his began.
We were caught in a perfect storm of sensation, building toward something that felt like it might consume us both.
“I’m close,” he warned, his voice breaking on the words. “I can’t hold back much longer.”
“Don’t,” I commanded, my own orgasm building at the base of my spine. “Cum for me, darling. Show me how much you love my cock.”
His climax hit like a tsunami, his entire body convulsing as he came with a broken cry of my name.
The energy that flooded through our connection was so intense it bordered on painful.
Wave after wave of pure ecstasy that left me dizzy and desperate.
I managed three more thrusts before my own orgasm overtook me, my cock spilling deep inside him.
We collapsed together in a tangle of sweaty limbs, both of us trembling from the intensity of what we’d shared. I gathered him against my chest, pressing kisses to his forehead while we both came down from the high.
“I love you,” I whispered into the quiet of the room, the words feeling more natural each time I said them. “I love you so much it terrifies me.”
“Good,” he murmured against my chest, his voice drowsy with satisfaction. “Love should be a little terrifying, right? Otherwise, how would you know it’s real?”
I smiled despite myself, marveling at his wisdom. Even boneless and thoroughly fucked, he could still surprise me with insights that cut straight to the heart of things.
“What happens now?” I asked, voicing the question that had been haunting me since we’d first confessed our feelings. “With the Purity Front, with your family, with everything?”
He was quiet for so long I thought he might have fallen asleep. Then he tilted his head to look at me, those blue eyes serious despite his relaxed state.
“I don’t know,” he said simply. “And I’m not going to worry about it tonight.” He pressed another kiss to my lips. “Tonight is just about us. All our problems can wait until tomorrow, okay?”
I nodded, kissing him again. “Okay.”
In that moment I realized we’d swapped places. I might’ve been his professor at Widdershins, but now he was the one teaching me. And whatever it was we had to learn, we’d figure it out together.