Authors: AJ Jarrett
“I just assumed when you said ‘house’ that it would be an actual house, not a mansion in the country. This place is amazing.”
Ben took a moment to look at the house and tried to see it as Miles did. With a shrug, he looked at Miles. “It’s just a house. Nothing fancy.”
“Not fancy?” Miles scoffed. “This place is the nicest home I’ve ever seen let alone gone inside. It beautiful, Ben.”
Grabbing Miles’s bag out of the car, Ben ushered him to the front door. “If you think this place is nice you should see my father’s house. He has at least thirty bedrooms in the place, not counting kitchens, rec rooms, and offices. You name it he has it. Plus, he’s always adding on to the thing.” He chuckled at Miles’s wide-eyed expression.
“How do you afford something like this?” The blush on Miles’s face made him look like a little boy. “I’m sorry, that was rude to ask. You don’t have to tell me your finances. I was just thinking out loud.”
He pulled Miles close and reached his hand out to tip Miles’s head up to meet his eyes. “Let’s get one thing straight, Miles. Never feel like you can’t ask me anything. My business is now your business, and it’s our finances, not just mine anymore.”
“What do you mean?” Miles stuttered.
“Babe, you’re my mate. What’s mine is yours.” Ben laughed at the stunned look on his mate’s young face. He couldn’t resist kissing the breath out of Miles. His mate tasted so sweet, the most delicious chocolate mixed with a tart-berry wine. Addictive to say the least.
Miles moaned loud enough it echoed off the foyer’s marble floor, traveling up the staircase. Ben pulled back with a smile. The youthfulness of his mate would bring him back to the land of the living. Every touch he placed on Miles caused the younger man to come alive with unabashed responses. Ben didn’t have to guess if Miles enjoyed his touch. The answer was clear as day upon his face.
Miles licked his lips, and Ben’s eyes followed the wet path the pink delight left in its wake. “I don’t have anything to share. It doesn’t seem fair for you to share all this”—Miles gestured around the room—“with me.”
“Miles, my love, all this is nothing without you in my life. This house, the things in this house are just that, things. You are my heart and soul. Life means nothing without you.”
“I don’t know what to say.” Miles’s head fell to his chest as he spoke.
“Don’t say anything. Just try to accept you’re not alone anymore. I will take care of you, and you, me.” Ben dropped a kiss to the top of Miles’s head then led him up the staircase to his bedroom. Once there, he placed Miles’s bag in the closet and led his mate to the chairs that sat overlooking the balcony.
“Miles, we need to talk about what Malcolm said today. I need you to understand the ways of my people.” He hated that he needed to have this talk, especially now when he had his mate just a few feet away from his bed. But right now wasn’t the time for sex. It was the time to come clean and let Miles know his options regarding the rest of his life.
Ben sat down in his chair and pulled Miles to sit on his lap. The need to touch his mate was too great. Miles sat down and draped his legs over the other side of the chair. After a little wiggling, he relaxed his head onto Ben’s chest. A sigh passed his parted lips, and Ben felt a twinge of guilt for having to put more stress on Miles’s shoulders.
“You remember me telling you last night how we become bonded mates?” Ben asked as he combed his fingers through Miles’s hair, enjoying the slight tickle to his palm as the soft locks caressed his hand.
“Yes, I remember.”
“Well to become like me, a vampire, I would need to bite you then have you drink from me. After that, you will fall asleep, and when you awake you’ll be a vampire.”
Miles giggled. “Sounds pretty easy. I was thinking you would have to feed me your blood then kill me to complete the process.”
“Babe, I’ll say it again. You watch too much television.” Ben laughed as he hugged Miles close. “But seriously, back to our discussion. You remember what Malcolm said to you?”
He felt Miles’s fingers tighten on his shirt and knew instantly that he did. “He said he could mate me without my permission, that I was beneath him, and he wouldn’t make me a vampire.” Miles tilted his head up to look at him. “Don’t you need one to have the other?”
“No, you don’t.” Miles’s brow knitted together in confusion. “We can become mates, and if you don’t wish to become a vampire you don’t have to. All you would have to do is have a monthly sip of my blood to keep you the way you are now.”
The breath Miles had been holding came out in a sigh. “Well that’s refreshing to hear. Not sure if I could live with drinking other people’s blood to survive.” Miles gave an exaggerated shudder.
“Miles, this is important. Please take this seriously.” His mate had an aversion to being bitten, but becoming a vampire was a better alternative than not, especially with Ben’s line of work of hunting down the Warriors of the Dark.
“I am.” Miles moved to straddle Ben’s lap. “I don’t mind the mating, but to become a vampire, I’m just not okay with that just yet. Maybe in time I will be, but right now I like just being little old human me.”
That was understandable, and Ben nodded his understanding, but would Miles one day want to be a vampire? Because in all honesty, that was the safest choice for him.
Bringing his hands up, Miles kneaded the muscles on the back of Ben’s neck. Ben let his head relax back into his mate’s touch, loving the feel of Miles’s lithe fingers working his muscles into a state of utter relaxation. Ben closed his eyes and enjoyed the massage Miles gave him.
“What is the benefit to becoming like you?”
Ben blinked his eyes open and was greeted by Miles’s questioning stare. “The benefit is that you would become stronger and more resilient than an average human.” Miles nodded his head. “But most importantly, you will be harder to kill.”
The hands on Ben’s neck stilled. “Why would someone want to kill me?”
Ben reached up and brought Miles’s hands around to hold in front of him. He caressed the tops of his hands in a soothing manner. “To get at me. If my enemies kill you, they weaken me, making the task of ending my life extremely easy for them to accomplish.” Ben shrugged. “And let’s face it, if there is no you, I don’t want to live, anyway.”
A single tear ran down Miles’s cheek. Ben leaned forward to kiss the salty drop away, causing a low moan to seep out of Miles’s mouth. It was time to stop all talk of life and death, vampire versus human existence. He had gotten Miles to agree to the hard part of becoming his mate. The vampire part they could work on later. But in the meantime, he just needed to up security to keep his boy safe.
“Ben, kiss me,” Miles purred. He rubbed his nose up against Ben’s.
The stiffness in his jeans had been there since Miles straddled his lap, and now he had the permission he needed to resolve the ache. Grabbing Miles by the back of his hair, he brought their lips together in a hard kiss. He glided his tongue along Miles’s, causing the soft, pink flesh to react and dance with his. The slurping of spit and needy moans coming from Miles wound Ben so tight he needed his mate, and he needed him now.
Ben wrapped his arms around Miles and stood up. He walked his mate to the bed then laid him down on the soft mattress.
He didn’t have to ask if this was what Miles wanted because the same burning desire he felt reflected in Miles’s golden-brown eyes. Once settled, Ben relaxed into the cradle of Miles’s thighs.
Miles was afraid of what would happen, and Ben didn’t want that fear to consume Miles’s life. He would do whatever he had to to protect his mate.
Miles straightened his arms above his head and arched up into Ben’s chest. The solid length of Miles’s cock nudged against his own, begging for release. Ben broke the kiss and sat back on his heels. He pushed Miles’s shirt up his chest, exposing the creamy-white skin he loved so much.
After a few seconds of admiring Miles’s torso, he went for the snap on his jeans. Miles moaned and squirmed underneath him. With every touch Ben made, Miles circled his hips and hiked them up, seeking resistance against Ben. He had to smile at his boy’s complete abandon and wanton behavior in needing his lover to satisfy him. And Ben couldn’t be more excited to know it was him Miles craved, not some random guy off the street. He wanted to be all Miles ever needed.
“Come on, Ben,” Miles moaned. “Make me feel.”
Ben looked up into his lover’s eyes and saw the love Miles felt for him. Miles might not have said it yet, but the love was there. The eyes were a window to the soul, and they didn’t lie.
Without being asked twice, he yanked Miles’s jeans down his legs, splitting the material in two in the process. Looking up, he got no signal from Miles that he was bothered by the torn pants. He pulled the remainder of the material off his mate and sat mesmerized by the leaking head reaching toward Miles’s navel.
The tip shined an angry red, and the veins that ran the length pulsed with every beat of Miles’s heart. Very slowly, Ben leaned down and licked from base to tip. His eyes shut of their own accord, relishing in the intoxicating taste of his mate. Soap and a faint hint of sweat, a combination made just for him.
Miles’s hands dropped to Ben’s shoulders, applying a slight pressure. The action was a silent plea for what he needed. Without a second thought, he engulfed the cherry-colored crown and took Miles down his throat until his nose met Miles’s trimmed patch of hair surrounding his magnificent cock.
Ben took a deep breath in, wanting to tag to memory the lovely smells of his mate. One more deep sniff and he pulled back, scraping his teeth lightly up the steel shaft in his mouth, marveling at the soft skin pulled tight over the thick erection. As he reached the top, he sucked at the tip, trying to collect as much pre-cum as he could. He stuck his tongue in the small slit, trying to coax more of Miles’s sweet elixir from his body.
“Oh god, Ben, please,” Miles panted. “Suck me.”
Never one to be given orders twice, Ben swallowed his mate’s cock down one more time and set a fast-paced rhythm. The need to taste Miles fully drove Ben wild. He wanted to hear Miles shout his name and coat Ben’s throat with his seed.
Ben reached up and rolled Miles’s balls between his fingers, adding to the already mind-numbing onslaught he gave Miles’s dick. The slightly furred globes jumped and tightened with every teasing touch, making Ben growl in his approval.
The clawing of the nails on his shoulders was the only warning Ben got before Miles lost all control and filled his mouth with his salty cum.
“Ben!” Miles arched his back and shouted at the ceiling.
The warm liquid shot down the back of his throat with every pulse. He gulped it down, not wanting a single drop to go to waste. Ben continued to suck and nibble on the spent cock, loving the jerking motions he received from his lover.
“Ben, baby, stop.” Miles gulped for air. “You’re tickling me.”
Ben gave one more hard suck to make sure he collected all of the semen and crawled up Miles’s body. The warm smile and outstretched arms that greeted him were the only confirmation he needed that he had found the one man he would love forever without any second-guessing fate’s plan.
Ben covered Miles’s mouth with his own, sharing the taste of the younger man’s seed with him. Miles sucked on Ben’s tongue in return. The sucking had Ben’s mind going to other places and had him grinding his appreciation for his mate into Miles’s stomach. The need to release the cum filling his balls was becoming unbearable. He was just about to request Miles to love on his body when a slamming door broke the moment.
“What was that?” Miles asked as he gazed toward the bedroom door.
“I don’t know, but I’m sure we will soon find out,” Ben huffed out as he stood up, reaching for Miles’s hand to pull him to his feet.
“You get dressed, and then I’ll introduce you to the rest of the warriors.”
Chapter Six
“Let go of me, you pompous ass.”