Chapter 10 #2
"Yeah, they went through with it, but right as Byrd was leaving, Jack Ambrose, the sheriff, came by.
" Eli's fingers twitched. "He tried to shoot him, Thano.
He saw him in human form and still tried to shoot him.
Rosie...eh...Mrs. Stevenson rushed him and pretended to be scared, so he couldn't aim properly, but the crows aren't safe in town anymore.
" His fingertips dug in a little into Thano's neck, not painfully, but it was a firmer grip. "You're not safe in town anymore."
Thano snorted.
"I'm serious. I don't want to see you hurt. And if you were to get hurt, all hell would break loose. I don't know what the idiots on the board are thinking."
"They think they can rule Last Hope."
Eli huffed, but fear was evident in his eyes. "I don't know what to do, Thano."
It wasn't his job to do anything. Thano moved closer still and rested his cheek against Eli's chest. He smelled nice. Soapy and clean and like Eli. Closing his eyes, Thano listened to the beat of his heart.
"What are we doing?"
"Standing."
Eli nuzzled his hair. "I meant, why are you in my arms?" He hugged him tighter, and Thano almost groaned.
"I don't know. I see you, and I want to be in your arms. It's weird but nice."
"Weird?"
Thano shrugged. "I'm a vampire. I'm the leader of The Moonlight Ranch. People don't touch me."
Eli stiffened, which wasn't what he wanted. "Vampires don't..."
"Bond? Sure they do."
"Bond?"
Thano tilted his head and looked up, but he mostly saw beard. Eli bent his head until they had eye contact.
"Like shifters mate, only we have a blood bond."
Eli scrunched his nose. "And it's like...marriage?"
Thano rolled his eyes. "No, not like marriage. Humans don't take marriage seriously. When a vampire bonds with someone, it's for life. Not like humans who say they'll be together till they die and then fornicate with other people the next week."
Eli snorted a laugh.
"What?"
"Nothing. Nothing."
Thano was pretty sure it was something because Eli's eyes were sparkling with amusement. "You realize it's illegal here, right?"
"Fornication?"
This time Eli laughed for real. "No, they're in favor of that, but only as long as it's between a man and a woman."
Thano scrunched his nose. He'd done it a few times, mostly out of curiosity.
He'd been convinced it had to be mind-blowing since humans were willing to ruin their lives for it, or at least their marriages and sometimes their jobs, but no.
But then, one time he'd gone into an alley to feed, and there had been two men.
It had changed everything. He liked females, respected females, but he didn't want to touch them unless he was feeding.
Thano reached for Eli and pulled him down so he could touch his lips to his. Eli made a surprised sound but held Thano tighter. He slid his tongue over the seam of Thano's mouth, then pushed in. Thano let him, and a small sound left him as the kiss deepened.
Eli's big hands roamed over Thano's back, down to his ass, and Thano wanted to crawl inside him.
His body was afire, and he wanted to rub himself on Eli, which had to be weird, right?
He slid his hands over his shoulders, down his arms, only to then rest them on his hips.
Eli's cock grew hard against Thano's abdomen, and another sound left him without permission.
When he slipped his fingers under the hem of Eli's shirt and up his sides, Eli groaned and broke free of the kiss. "This is dangerous."
Was he afraid of him? "I won't bite you if you don't want me to." He wanted to. Badly. He wanted to fasten his lips to Eli's throat and carefully sink his fangs into his flesh. He wanted his blood on his tongue.
"What?" Eli leaned back so fast, he banged the back of his head against the door jamb.
Thano stared at him. "You didn't mean biting?"
"No! Of course not. Why would I think about biting?"
Thano remained unmoving for a second, then he raised his upper lip a fraction, so the tips of his fangs became visible.
Eli stared at him, then he leaned a little closer.
He gently ran the pad of his thumb over Thano's lip, which left a burning trail in his wake.
Then pushed a little, revealing more of his fang.
To Thano's surprise, he leaned closer still and kissed the corner of Thano's mouth, then trailed his lower lip with his tongue before dipping inside.
"I meant it's dangerous because if they catch us together, they'll hang us.
" He spoke against Thano's lips. "Or me at least. I guess you can go invisible and escape.
" He kissed him again, and Thano hooked both his arms around Eli's neck, and to his delight, Eli picked him up.
With his large hands on Thano's ass, he moved farther into the kitchen.
He kicked a chair out from the table and sat with Thano on his lap.
"I won't let them take you." Thano struggled to get out of his suit jacket. Eli helped and got started on the buttons of his shirt while Thano peeled the fabric off. Soon he was naked from the waist up, and Eli looked into his eyes before undoing the button in his pants.
Thano leaned back to give him room as he pulled the zipper down and released his hard length. Thano groaned as Eli wrapped his fingers around him and gave him a slow pump.
"Works the same as on a human, right?" Eli struggled to push down the waistband of his own underwear.
He danced a little on the chair underneath Thano, shifting his weight to one side then the other until he had his cock and balls free.
Then he wrapped an arm around Thano's hips and pulled him closer.
He fisted both their lengths in his hand and tugged at them.
Thano rocked his hips, seeking friction, and groaning as he looked at the flushed heads pushing through Eli's fist. Tingles danced down his spine.
"Fuck." He dug his fingers into Eli's shoulder.
"I think this is enough for now." Eli was panting, and Thano watched in fascination as precome trickled down their length and wet Eli's hand. He squeezed his thighs against Eli's as electricity sparked around them. Heat consumed him, and he had to stop himself from clawing at Eli.
He had to be careful, had to make sure he didn't hurt him. Eli wasn't strong enough to throw him off should he do something that pained him.
When Eli looked into his eyes with blown pupils and rosy cheeks, Thano smashed his lips against his.
So hot. The scent of them filled the kitchen, and Thano pressed closer.
When he realized he made it harder for Eli to jerk them off he moved back a fraction and rocked into Eli's hold.
A strangled sound left him, and Thano squeezed his eyes shut.
Desperation burned hot. The pleasure inside of him grew sharper.
"Eli." He opened his eyes to see Eli nodding, then he flung his head back as his back arched.
The rapture took over his face as wetness hit Thano's abdomen and tumbled him into bliss.
His entire being was swept up in the wave of pleasure, and he leaned forward, nuzzled Eli's neck until he found the edge of his beard.
When there was skin underneath his mouth, he fastened his lips to it and sank his fangs into the warm flesh.
Eli jerked underneath him but didn't try to push him away as the first blood coated his tongue.
He swallowed once, twice, then some of the fog in his brain lifted.
Fuck, what was he doing? He swallowed again.
Eli tasted amazing, and it had been too long since he fed.
He swallowed again, shuddering as the pleasure of his release and the blood coursed through him.
When Eli ran a hand over his back, he forced himself to withdraw his fangs and lick the wound closed.
He didn't look at Eli, instead he rested his forehead against his shoulder.
Eli continued to caress his back with one hand, but the other, the sticky one, he brought to his neck and touched the bite.
The skin was healed, but Thano had taken blood.
Should he remove Eli's memories? He didn't want to, it felt like a violation to mess with the memory of what they'd done, but what if Eli would be angry with him?
Slowly, he raised his head. "Sorry."
Eli's eyes were wide, and the pleasure he'd seen there before was gone. "It's...eh...okay?"
Fuck, he'd ruined things. Eli didn't look okay. Thano slowly moved off him.
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