Haig stared at
Audric’s
cock, glistening with Kern’s saliva, and swallowed. Would Kern see it as cheating? Would he? Haig wasn’t sure if he could live with himself knowing he’d given in to his body’s urges outside of being mated. He thought of Kern’s suggestion that Haig mate with
Audric
and shook his head. He knew he couldn’t take the easy way out. Mating was a spiritual calling in Haig’s opinion, and he couldn’t imagine taking that leap without love being the basis.
“Nothing.”
He gestured to the door. “I’m going to grab something to eat. Give me a call when you’re finished.”
Kern grinned. “You might want to get dressed first.”
Haig glanced down at the erection threatening to send his towel to the floor.
“Asshole.”
* * * *
Audric
wished he could drive Haig from his mind. There he was with his legs folded up against his chest and a gorgeous hunk of a man fucking him through the mattress and all he could think about was the mixed emotions clearly visible in Haig’s eyes.
“Are you still with me?” Kern asked, slowing his thrusts.
Audric
returned his attention to the man he was quickly falling in love with. “I think Haig’s sad.”
Kern glanced towards the closed hotel room door. “Why do you think that?”
“Just the way he was watching us earlier. I can’t keep doing this if it’s going to upset him. You’ve been his mate for hundreds of years. Besides, you chose him. You’ve just become stuck with me. There’s a difference, and I know it.”
Although Kern didn’t pull out, he did help
Audric
lower his legs to a more comfortable position. “I may not have had a choice in our mating, but that doesn’t mean I wish it hadn’t happened. You bring something to my life that I can’t explain. A sense of…” Kern shook his head.
“Calm.”
Despite the seriousness of the situation,
Audric
couldn’t help but chuckle. “We’ve been fucking almost nonstop for days. You call that calm?”
Kern smiled in return. He balanced himself on one arm and lifted
Audric’s
hand to cover his heart. “You make me feel calm here. Whether our mating was natural or not, it’s right. And I think Haig sees that.”
“Do you think it hurts him?”
Kern shook his head. “I think it confuses him.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s attracted to you, and he doesn’t understand it. Haig’s incredibly old-fashioned. To him love should absolutely come before desire. I saw the effect you had on him earlier. He definitely desires you, so either he’s falling in love, or the ideas he’s held onto for so long are being challenged.”
Audric
bit his bottom lip. “Earlier when he was watching us, I held out my hand to him.” He looked deep into Kern’s eyes. “I wanted him to join us.”
“I’d like that,” Kern confessed. He kissed his way down
Audric’s
neck, using his tongue to occasionally lick and suck the skin. “Don’t be angry with me, but I suggested to Haig that he mate with you as well.”
Audric
pushed at Kern’s head. “You offered me to Haig without asking me first?” The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He’d been mated once before without being given a choice.
Suddenly the strength Kern hadn’t believed he possessed came out in full force. With one simple shove, Kern’s nude body hit the wall on the opposite side of the room as
Audric
sprang off the bed and onto his feet.
Dazed, Kern blinked several times. “What the fuck?”
Audric
held up his hand. “Don’t talk to me,” he said, grabbing his pants off the chair and rushing out into the hall. He tripped over a large pair of feet and fell to the floor. Looking up he stared into the handsome face of a smiling Haig.
“I see Kern didn’t give you the same advice he did me about leaving the room naked,” Haig said with a chuckle.
Audric
quickly covered himself with his jeans and glanced up and down the hallway. He wanted to stay mad, but it was hard with the big goofy smile aimed his way. “Gods, he’s an ass. How can you put up with him?”
“Kern certainly has his moments. What happened?”
The door opened and Kern rushed into the hall. “Where’re you going?” he asked
Audric
.
“We’re talking. Go on back into the room,” Haig ordered.
Despite being naked, Kern walked towards where
Audric
had fallen.
Audric
scooted backwards, away from the imposing man. He held up a hand to shield his face and turned away. “I’m sorry if I hurt you.”
“Kern!
Go back into the room and let me handle this,” Haig said again.
“He threw me across the room,” Kern tried to argue. “I just want to talk to him.”
“If he did, he must’ve had a good reason, now go back into the room and let me figure out what’s going on.”
Kern huffed several times but eventually started towards the door. “I know you didn’t mean it,” he told
Audric
.
Audric
held his tongue. Although he hadn’t meant to hurt Kern, he didn’t regret his actions. Once Kern was out of sight,
Audric
turned around and got to his feet. He struggled into his wrinkled jeans before taking a seat beside Haig with his back against the wall. “Do you realise how long it’s been since I’ve had a real choice in how I live my life?”
Haig’s eyes narrowed as if he was really thinking about the question. “Have you ever?”
Audric
blinked back the surprising question. “I-—I don’t know. Maybe when I was human?” He searched his memory. Although he’d been around twenty years old when he’d been turned, he didn’t remember ever living on his own. “No.
Probably not.”
“Don’t you think it’s about time you did?”
The simple task of making his own decisions threatened to overwhelm him. First his parents had control over him then
LaMont
. After
LaMont’s
death the coven took over handing out orders and punishments. Now, well, now he had Kern.
Audric
looked up at Haig. “I don’t think I know how,” he admitted.
Haig pulled
Audric
closer. “Why don’t you tell me what happened.”
“Well, we were…you know, and we started talking about you. Kern told me he’d offered me to you as a mate.”
Audric
shrugged. “It made me mad because…”
“Because he hadn’t consulted with you about it first,” Haig finished for him.
“Yes. I’m not chattel for him to just give away.”
Haig covered
Audric’s
hand with his own. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think Kern meant it that way. I think he’s just afraid of what will happen if you and I don’t find a bond between us all. His solution was the mating.”
Audric
had been afraid of the same thing in the beginning, but as the days went on, he realised his feelings for Haig were growing at the same pace as those for Kern. “I don’t think that’s true.”
“You don’t?”
Haig started to pull his hand away but
Audric
stopped him. “No. I don’t. Vampires don’t mate in the same sense that
weres
do. Like you, we mark the one we choose to spend eternity with but that instant connection isn’t there just because of it.”
Audric
stopped himself. He didn’t want to get too deep into an explanation he’d never had experience with, but Haig did deserve to understand the process. “From what I understand, most vampires that do choose to mark a mate do so out of love. It’s the love that binds them, not the bite. Does that make sense?”
Haig nodded. “I think it’s the same for me.”
“Kern told me you won’t mate with me because you don’t love me.”
Haig shook his head. “I didn’t say that. I said I couldn’t mate with you without love between us.” He lifted
Audric’s
hand to his lips and kissed it. “And when, or if, the time comes, I need that love in return.”
Watching as Haig continued to hold his hand,
Audric
realised he was quickly on his way to falling in love. It was different with Kern. Their relationship was a physical need for both of them.
Audric
turned his body towards Haig. “When I’m with you, like this, I feel as though I’m falling in love for the first time in my life,”
Audric
admitted. “And that shames me.”
Haig moved to press
Audric’s
hand against his chest. “Why? Don’t you like me?”
“Yes.”
You love him. Tell him.
Audric
brushed the voice inside his head away and found the small pebbled nubs under the thin material of Haig’s tight T-shirt.
Haig’s head fell back against the wall as
Audric
ran the tip of his finger around the hard nipple. “Why does it shame you to like me?”
“Because you belong to Kern,”
Audric
confessed. He didn’t admit that although he was developing feelings for Kern, they were different than what he felt for Haig. Although there was no doubt in his mind it would happen eventually, it wasn’t fair to either Kern or Haig that the love should come first to the man who wasn’t his mate.
Haig’s Adam’s apple bobbed several times before he spoke. “What do you want,
Audric
? This is your chance to choose the path that’s right for you.”
Closing his eyes,
Audric
leant forwards and captured Haig’s nipple between his teeth. Given the choice, he wanted to make love to the handsome man who often haunted his dreams.
Haig buried his fingers in
Audric’s
hair and held him in place for several moments as
Audric
laved the shirt until it was transparent. Pulling back,
Audric
looked deep into Haig’s big brown eyes. “Make love to me,” he whispered.
Bite me
, his inner voice chimed in.
Haig stood and pulled
Audric
up and against his chest. “It will change things between us.”
Audric
slowly nodded.
“We’ll have to discuss it with Kern,” Haig informed
Audric
.
Audric
nodded again. He gasped when Haig lifted him from the floor and cupped his ass.
Audric
wrapped his legs around Haig’s waist and held on. His emotions were all over the place. Worry, guilt and love all swirled through his heart and mind as he continued to stare into Haig’s eyes.
“I want to kiss you,” Haig whispered. “But I can’t without talking to Kern.”
Disappointment filled
Audric
. It wasn’t that he didn’t understand—he did—but the thought of hurting Kern by desiring Haig worried him. “What if he says no?”
“He won’t,” Kern answered from the small opening in the door.
“Then open up because we’re coming in,” Haig told Kern.
Chapter Six
Kern watched as Haig carried
Audric
into the room and set him on the bed. He’d heard the entire conversation after he’d been ordered back into the room, and he hadn’t missed the underlying meanings to
Audric’s
statements. It hurt him to know
Audric
hadn’t yet started to fall in love with him, but he understood it would eventually happen.
Audric’s
growing feelings for Haig were a blessing because apparently Haig felt them, too. Moving forward as a threesome would be much easier on everyone involved. Kern could worry about
Audric’s
love, or lack thereof, down the road.
He noticed there were two sets of eyes staring at him. “What?”
Haig left
Audric’s
side and approached Kern, pulling him into a warm embrace. “Are you sure this will be okay with you?”
“Of course it’s okay. It was my suggestion in the first place. Just took the two of you longer to come around to my way of thinking.” Kern tried to bury his hurt so Haig wouldn’t sense it. He pulled Haig’s shirt up and off.
“Will you let me watch?” Kern asked as he popped the button on Haig’s jeans and lowered the zipper.
Haig grabbed Kern by the back of the neck and pulled him in for a deep kiss. Kern opened his mouth and accepted the tongue-fuck with enthusiasm. Having been denied his earlier climax, Kern’s cock hardened at the first brush of his mate’s tongue.
After several glorious minutes, Kern broke the kiss and glanced at
Audric
. His little mate was already naked and touching himself. “What about you? Would you mind if I stayed?”
Audric
shook his head and spread his legs in invitation. “The only sexual experience I have with more than one man at a time wasn’t by choice. Thank you for giving me what others wouldn’t.”
Kern neared the bed with Haig. “I heard what you told Haig earlier,” he confessed. “I was wrong to suggest mating as an option between the two of you without asking you first, and I’m sorry.”
Audric
smiled. “Thank you. That means a lot to me.”
Kern looked at Haig. The two of them had never taken another man into their bed. Before
Audric
, neither of them had slept with anyone but each other. Since he’d already experienced the joy of fucking
Audric
, Kern thought it was important Haig be given the honour. He put his hand on Haig’s hip and gestured to the bed.
Haig gave Kern another deep kiss. “I love you,” he whispered in Kern’s ear.
“I know.”
Haig sat on the bed beside
Audric
. He started to reach out but stopped and pulled his hand back. “I don’t know what to do,” he admitted.
Audric
chuckled and grabbed Haig’s hand. “Sure you do. I’ve heard you make love to Kern before, remember?”
Haig glanced back up at Kern with an uncertain look in his eyes. Understanding the unspoken plea, Kern went around the bed and lay beside
Audric
. He lifted
Audric’s
wrist and placed Haig’s hand on the vampire’s chest.