Ollie Morgan [Seven Brothers for McBride 3] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) (15 page)

“This represents the binding of your blood.” McBride settled the red candle next to the mirror then lit it. He stepped away and turned off all the lights so only the triangle of candles lit the room. A golden glow encompassed them, driving away the darkness, but giving them the privacy of low lighting. “You may bite one another.”

This was the part that only landed gentrymen were supposed to do. In a binding ritual between a slammer and a thrall, the slammer penetrated the thrall and drank his blood for the first time, but since Jonas and Ollie were proceeding as if they were equals, they had forgone the penetration and they would now drink at the same time.

After a moment of silent communication, Jonas lowered his mouth to Ollie’s neck. He waited for Ollie to get into position, and then they bit at the same time. Pain pushed their bodies tightly together while passion hardened their cocks. Drawing deeply of his mate’s blood caused a need to swell inside Jonas. They were equals in all ways in his eyes, but he would always long to be the man on the bottom. Having his mate’s cock buried in his body was the ultimate pleasure. Jonas knew without asking that Ollie would allow Jonas to penetrate him, but he had no desire to do so. After such a long time hating himself because he didn’t understand his own desires, Jonas now embraced himself for exactly who he was. This was what he enjoyed. He no longer cared what anyone else thought of his choices. The only man’s opinion of him that mattered to him was Ollie’s. And Ollie had made it clear he loved him exactly as he was.

Once they finished drinking, Jonas turned and lay back on the bed, calling Ollie to him with his gaze alone. When Ollie moved on top of him, Jonas willingly parted his legs and wrapped them around Ollie’s hips.

“But I haven’t prepared you.”

“I’m ready for you.” Jonas had slid a greaser inside right before the ritual started because he knew this was how it would end. They would come together as equals, but eventually, he would surrender his body to Ollie.

“I truly do love you, Jonas.” Ollie cupped his big hands on either side of Jonas’s head. “I can’t imagine being with anyone but you.”

“I honestly love you, Ollie.” Jonas couldn’t help but shed a few tears. He was so happy and grateful he felt overwhelmed. “Those are tears of joy.”

“I know.” Ollie kissed them away as he lowered his body against him.

Ever so slowly, Ollie slipped his cock inside Jonas. Even though they had done this dozens of times, this night was special because this time they were committed to one another in body, soul, and blood.

“I won’t last,” Ollie breathed against the scar he’d made on Jonas’s neck.

“Nor will I,” Jonas confirmed as he wrapped his legs around Ollie’s hips, digging his heels into his buttocks. “I don’t want to make this a marathon session, my love.”

“I don’t want to make it a sprint.”

They laughed together, and then Jonas lifted his upper body so he could peer over Ollie’s broad back.

“What?” Ollie asked.

“McBride.”

Ollie looked over toward the vanity. “He’s gone.”

“I think he couldn’t take any more.” Jonas relaxed into the bed.

“We must do something for him after all he’s done for us.” Ollie plunged his hands under Jonas’s back then gripped his shoulders. Slowly, Ollie rocked his body atop Jonas, using his handholds to steady Jonas for his thrusts.

“Don’t do anything unless he asks.” Jonas let out a gasp of lust and longing as Ollie drilled his cock ever deeper. By angling his hips, Jonas allowed his mate to go so fully inside it was almost painful.

“I want to help him.” Ollie lowered his mouth to the scar he’d made upon Jonas’s neck. Rather than bite, he teased over the mark, making Jonas squirm with delicious agony.

“I want to help him, too, but I don’t want to push him where he doesn’t want to go.” Jonas still couldn’t comprehend McBride’s amazing generosity. Where his father had been secretive and utterly self-serving, McBride seemed to be open and completely selfless. “Your master is unlike any landed gentryman I’ve ever met.”

“He is that.” Ollie lifted his head and grinned at Jonas.

“Did you—do you—you aren’t attracted to—”

“How can you even ask that after all we’ve done to be together?” Ollie seemed so deeply hurt that Jonas went overboard to reassure him.

“I’m a fool to even suggest such a thing.” Jonas kissed Ollie a dozen times. “Forgive me?”

“You know I do.” Ollie kissed him back, but he took his time and placed the kisses with deliberate intent. “You are just worried because everything is so new and fragile.”

“You know me far better than I thought.” Jonas hooked his feet together and pulled, ramming Ollie into him. Arching up, he met his drilling prick with total acceptance. “Ah, my love.”

“You make me crazed.” Ollie lowered his lips to the scar against Jonas’s neck and teased it as he rocked his cock in and out of the clutching heat of Jonas’s ass. “Tell me the truth that you will always be mine.”

“Forever yours. Always and forever yours.” Jonas struggled to catch his breath, but he was unable to do so when Ollie thrust hard and bit him. While sucking hard of his blood, Ollie plunged his prick, making his mark so deep inside Jonas no one would ever be able to erase his show of possession.

“Say it. Say what I want to hear.”

“I surrender. I give all that I am to you.” Jonas arched up and climaxed against his mate’s belly. He couldn’t see, hear, or feel anything for the longest time. Lost in the bliss of submission, Jonas only knew the profound power of his chosen.

“I claim you with all that I am.” Ollie rocked his body atop Jonas, his cock reaching new depths with each thrust. Once Ollie bottomed out in Jonas’s body, he growled, bit down, and drew hard, sucking Jonas’s blood. The rush of loss was almost frightening, but Jonas knew Ollie wouldn’t drain his life force away.

After a deep swallow, Ollie licked the wound closed, lifted his head, and grinned down at Jonas. “You amaze me.”

“I do?” Jonas felt weak but not from blood loss. His languid feeling was from knowing he was now eternally bonded to his mate.

“You do. Your trust in me is one thing, but the fact that you gave up so much simply to be with me is spellbinding.”

Jonas reached up and cupped his lover’s face. “That you accept me just as I am, for all that I am, is what makes me so willing to do anything, everything to be with you.”

McBride left the master bedroom because he couldn’t take another minute of watching Jonas and Ollie twine their bodies, souls, and bloods together. They represented everything he wanted and would never have. He envied them for their bliss, but moreover he resented them for showing him exactly what he could never obtain with the man of his dreams. No matter what McBride did, he couldn’t duplicate what Jonas and Ollie had captured with Caleb.

Watching them bond together had been difficult because McBride had to put aside his own longings. When he realized that he couldn’t ever bond because he’d claimed Jonas as his companion, something in his soul cried out. He’d made a mess of things. Well, that wasn’t totally true. Ollie and Jonas were happy, and even though they had to live a lie, McBride thought they would continue on being grateful for what they had because it was far superior to nothing.

McBride thought of these things as he made his way down the hall. He wanted to get as far from the master suite as he could. The last thing he needed right now was to hear the sounds of their passion. He went to the opposite end of the wing and entered a bedroom. Without turning on a light, he went over to the window and peered down into the cul-de-sac.

Most of the lights were out in the tiny houses, but Caleb’s light was still on. He was sitting with his back to the window. McBride studied him, wondering what he was doing. Reading? He was looking down at something on the table, but his hand was making rhythmic motions over whatever it was.

Rather than try to figure out what he was up to, McBride allowed himself the total indulgence of just looking at and enjoying the sight of Caleb. His back was bare since he wasn’t wearing a shirt. Bronzed skin stretched over his powerful frame, but McBride knew that color would only darken as the summer drew on. Each day would add a bit more to his tan, which would make his smile seem whiter.

Sadly, McBride didn’t think Caleb was going to be smiling any time soon.

That made McBride wonder if Caleb had watched the shadows dance against the windows of the master bedroom. If Caleb had indeed watched, had he believed what he’d seen? McBride didn’t know, and he certainly couldn’t ask. From this point forward, he and Jonas were dedicated and fully bonded companions.

Reaching out toward the window, McBride touched the tiny image of Caleb. When Caleb turned as if to luxuriate in the stroke, McBride grinned, but his joy faded when Caleb rose from the table, shut off the light, and disappeared into the darkness. This was as close as he was ever going to get. Even drinking from Caleb would be impossible. McBride didn’t think he could keep up the charade when he was alone with a man whose mere gaze could inflame his passions.

McBride was desperate for a distraction, but the night was unusually quiet. He sat in the window, looking out at the Morgan brothers’ houses and his field of newly planted
tallos
. Moonlight made the land seem barren and almost alien. Soon, the plants would grow in neat, tidy rows and his men would once again don protective suits to pick the swollen buds. There was another field on the other side of the big house that was about a month away from picking. Funny, but he never watched them work that field, and he had no idea why. McBride preferred looking this direction, perhaps because beyond his land was the town of Woven Spire and he liked to keep that in his sight line.

As if summoned, his crimetech, Quintus, called, making the back of his earlobe vibrate. McBride knew it was him since he’d given him a distinctive tone. He didn’t want to miss anything about the Larsden case.

“McBride here,” he said after touching the back of his ear to activate the unit.

“Quintus here.”

There was a long beat of silence that made McBride stand up from the window. “What’s wrong?”

Quintus didn’t ask how he knew, nor did he try to downplay the news he had to share. He spit it out in one big chunk. “We have another case just like Larsden.”

Everything in McBride’s body turned ice cold. Fear laced his muscles with adrenaline, preparing him for fight or flight, but he could do neither. There was no one to fight, and there was nowhere to run.

“It gets worse.”

Even though he didn’t want to ask, McBride found himself doing just that. “How?”

“The man, Denafo, lived in a close-knit neighborhood.”

“They heard what was going on?”

“They did,” Quintus confirmed. “One tried to stop him and almost got his arm wrenched off for his trouble. He’s over at the hospital now, but he won’t be there long.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Everyone is leaving. Word spread like wildfire.”

“Zooks.” McBride washed a hand over his weary face. This was possibly the last thing he needed. “We’ve got to show a presence in the town.” Perhaps with authority figures in sight people would calm down and stop going to pieces.

“Why? There’s no point. People aren’t going to stay. They’re scared, and nothing is going to calm them down.”

“What about the uppers, are they—”

“No one is coming to help, especially not our superiors.”

McBride and the men under his employ referred to the Genetics Board as the uppers since they were like a class unto themselves. “Aren’t they going to try to contain whatever this is?”

“We aren’t the only town to have this issue.”

“There are more?” Every nerve in McBride’s body vibrated.

“All over the globe.” After another long beat of silence, Quintus added, “Apparently, we are one of the much later cases to have cropped up. It’s a mess, boss, and I don’t see any way to put the lid back on it.”

The news was devastating. Their world had already undergone a drastic shift once. McBride didn’t think they could survive another. “But do we know what it is?”

“No, and we won’t, not with all the lab people panicking and fleeing right along with the rest of the folks.”

In the background, McBride heard the strangled sounds of controlled chaos. He imagined everyone was taking what they could and going—“Where is everyone going?”

“They don’t know. I’m not going anywhere since this seems to be everywhere. But I think I’m one of the few who doesn’t see the point of running.”

“Come out to my farm.” McBride respected Quintus as an officer and a man, especially now that in the midst of pandemonium, he was keeping his head. He always managed to sound calm and focused. Quintus would be a good man to have around during the upcoming trials.

“Are you sure?” Quintus sounded stunned by the offer.

“It might just be the perfect place to weather the storm.” They talked for a bit longer about what he should bring then cut the call. McBride turned toward the doorway, intent on telling everyone what he’d just learned, but he changed his mind and settled back at the window. There was no point in ruining everyone’s last night of peaceful sleep. Soon enough they’d know that the world had changed forever. Again.