Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
M ikael looked down at the man sleeping beside him, heart fluttering at the sight. Collin was curled up against his chest, his head nestled into the crook of Mikael’s neck, his breathing deep and even. The bedsheet was draped over his naked body, but his back was exposed, his smooth, fair skin on display. He was so damn beautiful.
It was all he could do not to roll Collin onto his stomach and have his way with him again.
But that could wait. Collin needed sleep.
And Mikael… well, he just needed Collin.
He brushed his lips over Collin’s forehead, inhaling his mate’s intoxicating scent.
He could have spent forever watching Collin sleep, marveling at the fact that he was his, eventually, though, Mikael felt his own eyelids grow heavy. He yawned and tried to blink the fatigue away, but it was useless. The lure of Collin’s body against his, the warmth of his skin, was impossible to resist.
He closed his eyes.
And he didn’t open them again until something sharp pricked his skin. A burning sensation.
He woke with a jolt, realizing that the first rays of sunlight were creeping through the window and falling across his forearm.
Fuck.
He scrambled out of bed, cursing himself for falling asleep before closing the shutters. Collin mumbled in protest and rolled over onto his side, but he didn’t wake.
“Collin!” Mikael tried to wake his mate while seeking shelter under the bed.
“What?” Collin mumbled sleepily.
“The shutters!”
“The what?” Collin sounded only slightly more awake now. “Where are you?”
“Under the bed.”
“Under the bed?”
God, this was embarrassing. Here he was, a powerful creature of the night, brought low by the first feeble rays of the morning sun. “Just close the shutters, please.”
There was a moment of silence before the bed creaked and then Collin’s feet appeared on the floor. The mortal walked to the windows and pulled the shutters closed, plunging the room into blissful darkness once more.
Mikael let out a sigh of relief and climbed out from under the bed. “Thank you.”
Collin looked at him with concern. “Did you get hurt? I’m sorry, I didn’t think.”
“I’m fine, I just wasn’t thinking either. It’s my own fault.” Mikael studied his forearm. There was a line of blisters along the pale skin where the sunlight had hit, but they were already beginning to heal. “It’s barely a burn. I’ll be alright.”
Collin turned on the overhead light and frowned at the marks on Mikael’s skin. “That looks bad. Can I get you a bandage or something?”
“It’ll be fine by tonight.” Mikael gave his mate a reassuring smile. “You don’t have to worry about me.”
“Well, I am worrying,” Collin said, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m your mate now. Isn’t it my job to worry about you?”
Mikael chuckled and tugged at the mortal’s arms. “Come here.” He pulled Collin against him and leaned down to press their lips together.
Collin sighed and melted into the embrace, his body molding against Mikael’s. His breath tickled Mikael’s lips as he pulled away. “Are you sure you don’t need anything?”
“Look.” Mikael showed Collin his forearm once more. “I’m already healing.”
“Wow. That’s fast.”
Collin was right; Mikael was healing fast, even by vampire standards. The blisters on his skin were fading rapidly. In a few minutes, there’d be no trace of them remaining.
“I bet it’s your blood that’s helping me heal this fast.”
“Mine?” Collin blinked. “How?”
“My sire mentioned that my mate’s blood would make me stronger.”
“Oh.” Collin ran his fingers along Mikael’s arm as if he needed to touch to believe what he was seeing. “I guess that’s a good thing?”
“The best thing.” Mikael tilted Collin’s chin up with his hand and pressed their lips together for another gentle kiss. His whole body hummed with contentment. “I’ve never had any blood as good as yours.”
“Never?”
“Never,” Mikael confirmed. “And I’ve had all kinds of blood.”
“I know.” Something shifted in Collin’s expression, and Mikael wondered if that was a hint of jealousy he saw there.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Collin bit his lower lip as if he was working up the courage to say what he needed to say. “It’s just that I’ve watched you bite a lot of people, always wishing it was me.”
So it was jealousy after all. “I thought you enjoyed watching my streams.”
Collin shot him an exasperated look. “Of course I did, but now…”
“Now what?” Mikael prompted gently.
“I know biting other people is part of your job. You’re a performer and you have to do certain things in front of the camera… And I’d never ask you to stop doing what you’re doing if you still enjoy it, but…” Collin swallowed and then looked up at Mikael, meeting his eyes. “I don’t know if I can do it anymore. Watching you bite someone else, watching them get off on it…”
Collin’s cheeks flushed with heat as if his feelings embarrassed him, though there was nothing for him to be embarrassed about. Mikael loved the honesty with which he expressed his emotions, always had.
“I know I’m being ridiculous. You’re a star on stream, of course you’re going to bite people. You have sex with strangers. But I don’t want to be part of your audience anymore, I…” Collin drew in a deep breath. “I don’t want to share you. I know that’s selfish, and it’s probably stupid considering we’ve only shared one night, but–”
Mikael cut him off with another kiss, putting all his desire, all his affection and commitment into it. Collin had given him a gift, allowing himself to be claimed as his mate.
It was more than Mikael deserved, honestly.
“You’re not sharing me with anyone,” Mikael rasped against the corner of Collin’s mouth. “I’m your vampire.”
“Yeah?” Collin looked up at him, his eyes wide, his face glowing with hope and affection.
“Yes,” Mikael whispered. “I promise.” A smile stole onto his face. “And just so you know, your blood is the only blood I’ll be drinking from now on. Even if I wanted to, no other blood would sustain me. That’s the price I pay for taking a mate, for the strength you give me.” He stroked Collin’s cheek. “I’m at your mercy.”
Collin’s eyes widened. “Are you serious?”
“Very serious.”
Collin looked at him for a long moment as if trying to process all the implications of Mikael’s words. “What about your stream? You love streaming.”
“I’ll just have to find new ways to entertain my viewers,” Mikael grinned. “Maybe you can help me.”
Collin’s cheeks flushed again, but Mikael could see that the thought excited him.
Oh, they were going to have a lot of fun together.
It was only a few hours later that Collin received the call that Luna was ready for pick-up.
Mikael couldn’t go with him, since the sun stood high in the sky, but Mikael didn’t mind hanging back. That gave him some time to go through his OnlyFangs account and let his subscribers know of the changes that he would be making in the future.
He decided that the quickest way to do that would be to film a short video, so he angled the phone away from himself and switched it to camera mode. Not the most professional way to film, but it would do.
He hit the record button. “Hey guys, it’s your favorite bloodsucker here,” he said. “As you probably noticed, I haven’t been doing any streams recently, but I don’t want you to think I’m abandoning you, so I wanted to tell you what’s going on.”
He took a deep breath.
“The truth is… I found my mate.”
He smiled at the camera. “His name’s Collin and he’s absolutely amazing. You might have seen him stream on this website before, too. Anyway, he doesn’t like me biting or fucking other people, and why would I, when I’ve got the most amazing man in my bed already. So yeah, I’m going exclusive, but don’t worry, I won’t disappear. I’ll still be doing stuff, probably together with him. It’s going to be great, I promise.” He blew a kiss at the camera. “See you soon, suckers.”
He stopped recording and quickly checked the footage to make sure it was all right. The lighting wasn’t ideal, but overall he liked how it turned out. He uploaded the clip to his channel and then posted it.
That should do.
He leaned back on the bed and navigated to his text messages on his phone, opening a chat he had with his sire which mostly consisted of short exchanges about events at the club. “I claimed Collin,” he wrote. “Thanks for the advice.”
He was about to put the phone down when a reply came.
“I take that to mean you won’t be at the club tonight?”
“No. Probably not tomorrow, either. Or the day after.”
“Enjoy your honeymoon, kid. I’ll talk to Altair for you.”
Mikael grinned. Altair was their coven’s leader, and technically, Mikael would have had to consult with him before leaving the coven territory for a longer period of time.
“Thanks.”
He set down the phone and waited for his mate to return.
Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait too long before he heard someone approach the apartment.
He sat up on the bed and met Collin by the door, who walked in with Luna’s pet carrier in his hand. He had a smile on his face. “She’s recovering well.”
“That’s good news.” Mikael watched as Collin put down the pet carrier.
Luna stuck her nose out, sniffing the air, and though the bunny looked a little sleepy still, she seemed to recognize Mikael’s presence and immediately hopped closer, making a clicking noise with her teeth.
Mikael chuckled and picked up the bunny, cradling her to his chest. Her soft fur tickled his nose as she wiggled against him, pressing her small nose against his throat as if in greeting.
He scratched the rabbit’s ears and then handed her back to Collin. “Do you think it’s okay for her to hop around? She just had surgery.”
“It’s fine, as long as she doesn’t pull at her stitches. They gave her some potion to stimulate her innate magic to help with recovery… or something. Honestly, I only understood half of what they told me.” He patted Luna carefully. “I did understand that Luna’s no ordinary animal. They said she has good regenerative abilities. We’re still supposed to come in for another check-up in a few days.”
“That’s a relief.” Mikael stroked the bunny’s head.
“Seriously.” Collin exhaled loudly. “I couldn’t have done this without your help.”
“I didn’t do much.”
“You paid!”
Mikael shrugged. “You can help me make more money. In fact, I just told my subscribers to expect to see you soon.”
“You did?” Collin blinked.
“Unless you don’t want to?”
“Of course I want to!” Collin set his pet bunny down gently and planted a kiss on Mikael’s lips. “Let’s make them forget you ever bit anybody else.”
Mikael laughed. He couldn’t deny that the idea had its appeal.
He was going to show the whole world that there was only one person he wanted to sink his fangs into anymore, and he would show them over and over again.