“When any two people come together, there is always a fight for dominance. That’s a given. By the time I was born, that had pretty much been worked out between our people. It was an individual choice between couples, much as it is today with humans.”
“I assume that changed?”
Zacarius nodded. “Prince Laurent Von Byrne decided werewolves should be soldiers in his personal army rather than free men. He was a very influential person and convinced a lot of people to his way of thinking.”
Zacarius sighed. He hated this part of the story. It made vampires look like blood thirsty monsters, and did not put them in a good light.
“Covens began banding together in a show of force. If a shifter refused to bend to Prince Laurent’s ideals, they got put to death. It didn’t matter if they were mated to a vampire or not. If a vampire refused, they also got put to death, but only after their mate was murdered in front of them.”
“And people just let this happen?” Devlin asked, his voice laced with horror.
“No, that’s where the war started. What few vampires were left banded together with the werewolves and fought back, but they were outnumbered. Unlike shifters, vampires are not ruled by the moon’s cycles. We can attack anytime, anywhere.”
“Even during the day?”
Zacarius chuckled. “Sunlight is an old wives tale. I can go out in the sun as much as the next guy.”
“But you’re so pale,” Devlin said. “I thought that came from lack of sunlight.”
Zacarius shook his head. “No, it’s the virus in our system. The more blood we ingest, the more color we gain. I haven’t eaten today, which explains my pale skin.”
“It’s a virus? I thought you were born this way.”
“I was. Most of my people are born vampires. However there is a virus in our bloodstream that can transform someone into a vampire, but only if they have the vampire gene.”
“Vampire gene?”
“Every vampire has it. It’s what makes us vampires. For humans, if they have the gene and are bitten by a vampire, it transforms them into a vampire. If they don’t have the gene it doesn’t affect them.”
“And werewolves? Does it work the same for them?”
“No, werewolves are immune to a vampire bite,” Zacarius said. “One of the many reasons Prince Laurent wanted to subjugate them. It was the middle ages. Vampires terrified humans. Shifters were not. He needed some way to control them.”
“So, he started a war that’s lasted centuries?”
Zacarius shrugged.
“Why hasn’t anyone tried to put a stop to it? It’s been what, five hundred years? Why hasn’t anyone tried to put things back the way they were?”
“Too much time?” Zacarius asked. “You have to understand, darling, not many vampires around during the time of the war are still alive.”
“You are,” Devlin stated simply.
“True.” Zacarius nodded his head sadly. “But I am a minority. Vampire princes live longer than normal vampires. As we each govern our own covens, there are not that many of us, and there are strict rules about fraternization between covens.”
“Seriously?”
Zacarius chuckled. He walked back to his chair and sat down, gesturing for Devlin to take the chair opposite him. Once Devlin sat down, he continued.
“We are just as territorial as shifters. I imagine it’s been years since I have even seen a vampire from another coven. We don’t socialize well.”
“Wow, I never knew. We always assumed that you got together all of the time.”
“No, there is a convocation every hundred years,” Zacarius stated. “Other than that, we do not mingle.”
“How do you find your mates then?”
“Hopefully, within our own coven. If our mate turns out to be human, they can be transformed if they have the vampire gene. If not, and fate smiles upon us, our life threads are entwined. If fate doesn’t bless us in this way, we simply stay with them until they die then go on, hoping to find another mate.”
Devlin’s eyebrows scrunched together. “Life threads? I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of that. What exactly is that?”
“If you were my mate, hypothetically speaking of course, and assuming fate granted us this blessing, your life thread would intertwine with mine. You would live as long as I do. However, you would also die when I do or vice versa.”
“Have you been mated before?”
“No, I’ve never been lucky enough to find my mate. I suspect he or she is waiting for me out there somewhere, or maybe they have yet to be born.” Zacarius sighed. “Maybe I am destined to reign without a mate. It has happened before.”
He mentally shook his morose thoughts away and looked at Devlin. “What about you, darling, any mates looming on the horizon for you?”
Devlin chuckled even as his face flushed a bit. “No, not yet.”
“And how do you feel about your alpha having a male mate?”
Devlin shrugged. “Keeley’s okay. He really cares about Reece and that’s nice, but I swear, one of these days I’m going to smother the little brat in his sleep.”
Zacarius grinned. “Do tell,” He encouraged.
“Keeley is a character. He does exactly what Reece wants as long as he thinks it’s a good idea. If he doesn’t, he basically ignores Reece, which drives Reece up a wall. He gets into more trouble than any one I have ever met, and I think he does it on purpose just to keep Reece jumping.”
“Sounds like an interesting character.”
“Oh, he is,” Devlin said, a smile coming to his lips. “He wears nail polish, a belly button ring, and eye liner. Drives Reece batty. The man has no control where Keeley is concerned. The minute Keeley walks into the room, Reece loses all concentration.”
“Sounds wonderful.”
Devlin remained silent for a moment then he began to chuckle. “Yeah, it does, doesn’t it?”
“Do you look forward to finding your mate, Devlin?”
“Of course, who doesn’t?”
“Many people don’t,” Zacarius replied. “Once mated, we become very territorial, possessive. We have a burning need to mate frequently, and we cannot drink blood from anyone except our mates.”
“You can only drink blood from your mate?”
Zacarius saw the small shudder that passed through Devlin’s body. Poor boy. He would learn what a turn on that was by the end of the night if Zacarius had anything to do with it.
Zacarius pressed his fingers together as he gazed at Devlin. “Don’t knock it before you try it, darling. The drinking of blood can be a very intimate act between two people, especially when done in the right manner and taken from the right place.”
Devlin tried to hide his interest, Zacarius could tell. The man didn’t want him to know the idea intrigued him. The hard bulge growing behind his zipper showed Devlin’s fascination as if he waved a big red flag.
“Would you like to try, darling?” Zacarius asked, his voice dropping low. “It is unlike anything you’ve ever experienced, I can assure you.”
Devlin’s face flushed again and Zacarius knew he had him. The man wouldn’t be able to say no. Despite what might come out of his mouth, he was intrigued. Zacarius suspected Devlin liked a bit of pain with his pleasure. He licked his lips. He couldn’t wait.
Deciding they played enough, Zacarius stood to his feet and walked over to stand in front of the sexy shifter. He reached down and drew Devlin to his feet. He trailed his hand up Devlin’s arm to his chest then further down to palm the impressive erection in Devlin’s jeans. As tight as they seemed, there wasn’t much left to the imagination.
He squeezed, smiling when Devlin moaned and his head dropped back on his shoulders. He leaned in closer to Devlin, inhaling the heady masculine scent natural to the man. Scent was one of the strongest aphrodisiacs a vampire could experience besides taste, and Devlin had a very potent fragrance.
He moved his fingers to softly caress the flesh of Devlin’s thigh just below the apex of his thighs. “The femoral artery is one of the most intimate spots a vampire can draw blood from. So close to your cock, darling,” Zacarius whispered as seductively as he could. “I could rock your world.”
Zacarius could feel the Devlin’s cock pulse against his arm. He moved back up to the button and zipper of his jeans. He flicked the button open. Devlin moaned. Zacarius lowered the zipper slowly. Devlin shuddered.
“Would you like that, darling?” Zacarius asked softly. “My lips on your beautiful cock, sucking you until just before you come? Then I’d move my lips to your inner thigh, just below your balls. I’d sink my teeth into your sweet skin, taking just enough to send you over the edge. Or maybe I’ll just bite your cock. I’ve been told that is the most intimate bite and very pleasurable.”
Zacarius grasped the cock that bounced into his hand. Devlin’s cock throbbed. Zacarius could feel the blood pulsing in the man’s thick length. It exhilarated him to know he aroused Devlin to this point. Zacarius’s little toy was about to explode.
“Mmm, I’ll bet you taste so sweet, don’t you, darling?” Zacarius asked. He stroked Devlin slowly from root to tip, his thumb caressing the small slit in the head. “Shall we find out? Do you want me to suck your cock?”
Zacarius watched his face, the emotions crossing it fascinating. Devlin wanted to deny what he felt, but the lust that took over his body commanded him. Zacarius could see it. Devlin warred with himself.
“Oh fuck!” Devlin cried out. His body trembled. Zacarius hissed as Devlin bit his lip hard enough to draw blood and the intoxicating scent reached his nostrils. Oh, he wanted to taste it so badly.
“It could be so good between us, Devlin,” Zacarius whispered. “All you have to do is say yes.”
He was surprised at the strength of the hands that gripped his arms. Devlin’s body began to tremble uncontrollably. His cock pulsed, thickened. Zacarius knew he had the big werewolf before he even opened his mouth.
“Yes!” Devlin exclaimed as his cock erupted, spurting cream all over Zacarius’s hand.
Zacarius couldn’t control himself anymore. Apparently Devlin seduced him as much as he seduced Devlin. Zacarius dropped to his knees and drew Devlin’s cock into his mouth, licking the sweet cream off the pulsing organ.
Devlin’s hands clenched in his hair. Small whimpers came from Devlin. Every swipe of his tongue made the shifter shudder until Devlin began fucking his mouth. Zacarius grinned around the dick in his mouth. Devlin hardened again.
He was determined that Devlin would experience the ultimate kiss of a vampire. Devlin would be addicted to it, Zacarius didn’t doubt that. Maybe almost as much as Zacarius figured he would be addicted to Devlin’s taste.
Zacarius ran his tongue down Devlin’s long length, then back up to capture the head and suck in back into his mouth. He swallowed him all the way down until the head hit the back of his throat then repeated the process.
He knew Devlin closed in on another orgasm when the blood pooling in his groin began to pulse again. It was right there, right under the skin, so close Zacarius could practically taste it. Only a thin layer of skin separated them.
“Za—Zac,” Devlin groaned. “Gonna…gonna come again.”
Zacarius warmed to being called
Zac
. No one addressed him as anything except Zacarius or Your Highness. It gave a more intimate feel to what happened between them and stripped away the last of Zacarius’s control.
Without thought to the consequences, Zacarius sank his long canine teeth into silky skin of Devlin’s rock-hard cock. The sweet taste of the shifter’s blood hit his system a split second before Devlin’s cum erupted in his mouth.
The two combined tastes rocked Zacarius’s world as nothing ever did. He never tasted anything so sublime, so delicious. No one ever affected him like Devlin. Overcome, Zacarius pulled his teeth from Devlin’s cock and caught him as he collapsed on the floor.
He gazed down into Devlin’s dazed and confused eyes. The very foundation of Zacarius’s life trembled as he realized that, after five hundred years, he held the man destined to be his mate in his arms. And he was a shifter.
Chapter 3
Little aftershocks still rocked through Devlin’s body as he took another sip of the orange juice Zacarius supplied him. He felt shaky, dazed, and totally unprepared for what happened between him and the vampire prince.
It had been the most exquisite sexual experience of his life. When Zacarius promised he would rock his world, Devlin never thought that the told the truth. He thought Zacarius just boasted about his skill.
One small blow job and Devlin was more than ready to lie down on the bed and let the prince do anything he wanted. He felt like a slave to his desire to experience everything Zacarius could show him.
Devlin felt even more confused by the fact that he couldn’t stop sniffing Zacarius. For some reason he needed to have Zacarius’s scent in his body or he would shrivel up and die. He felt almost obsessive about it.
“You are well?” Zacarius asked from across the table. “I didn’t take too much?”
Devlin shook his head. He felt a little light headed, but he wasn’t sure if it came from Zacarius drinking his blood or from having two tremendous orgasms back to back. Either could explain his current condition.
“No, I’m fine, thank you.”
“I did warn you, my darling.”
Devlin frowned. Zacarius called him darling almost since their first meeting. Since the blow job and whatever that other thing was, he started calling Devlin
my darling
. It was exciting, arousing, and just a little freaky.
Devlin glanced up to see Zacarius taking another sip of his merlot. The man did like his wines. Devlin couldn’t help but wonder what else he might like. He suddenly shook his head. He needed to stop thinking that way. Zacarius was a vampire prince. He was a shifter. No matter how much he might want it, a relationship between them would never work.
“You said you would bite my thigh, not my dick.”
Zacarius chuckled. “Yes, well, you were too tempting to ignore.”
Oh sure, blame it on the shifter
, Devlin thought even as he tried to suppress his grin. The idea that Zacarius lost control because of him thrilled Devlin. He wanted to make him lose control. He wanted to make Zacarius beg. He wanted to make the man see only him for the rest of his life.