Authors: Gabrielle Evans
He cradled his angel’s face, stroking the bruised and battered skin softly. His precious angel, the center of his very world, hung upside down, swaying gently in the cold breeze. His ankles were bound together and tied to a large branch high above them. His wrists were tied together in a similar fashion as they dangled over his head.
Echo looked so pale beneath the dark purple bruises marring his face and body. He’d been stripped naked, beaten, cut, and bled from what Hex could tell. Sets of twin puncture wounds littered his body—at his neck, his wrists, the insides of his thighs, and even his stomach.
The warriors gathered around him, Eyce sawing at the rope connecting Echo to the tree with a wicked-looking dagger. When the rope finally snapped, Hex and Fiero caught Echo, lowering him gently into Hex’s arms. Fiero whipped his shirt off over his head, and draped it over their unconscious mate. “Tell me you can fix this,” he choked.
With a heavy heart, Hex shook his head. “I can’t fix this.” The search had taken too long. They’d hiked miles through the trees looking for their missing mate. Maybe if they’d found him sooner, Hex could have done something. But now, it was too late.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Vapre demanded. “Heal him! Bring him back! He is not fucking dead!”
“No,” Hex whispered. “He’s not dead, but I can’t fix this.” He cradled Echo in one arm and brushed the hair back from his face. “Everyone calm down. He’s going to need us more than ever.”
“I don’t understand.” Myst stepped forward and trailed his fingertips down Echo’s cheek. “Why can’t you fix him?”
“He’s not broken,” Jinx answered quietly before Hex could speak. He patted the hand Craze rested on his shoulder then eased away from his mate to come closer to them. “His wounds will begin to heal themselves once the transition is complete.”
“Transition?” Syx spun around so fast, Hex was amazed the warrior didn’t fall on his ass. “You mean…he…but what about…Oh, fuck me,” he finished his ramble with a groan. “This is not fucking happening.”
“He’ll be thirsty,” Syn added quietly. “It is a good thing there are so many of you.”
“We’ll give him whatever he needs,” Hex vowed.
“He can’t be in the sunlight.” Jinx bit his lip and his shoulders slumped. “He can have the attic, and we will return to the basement.”
“No,” Vapre answered immediately. “Thank you, but Echo would have a fit. We’ll take him to the basement for now, and figure out something else tomorrow.”
“What the fuck is going on?” Onyx roared. “Why are we taking Echo to the basement? Why can’t he be in the sun? And what fucking transition is he talking about?”
“Onyx, come here.” Hex waited for the demon to step closer to him then wrapped his free hand around the man’s neck and dragged him into a tender kiss. “Everything is going to be okay,” he mumbled a minute later.
Releasing Onyx, Hex pinched Echo’s chin gently between his thumb and index finger, urging his mate’s mouth to open. His plump lips parted, and Echo moaned as he tried to snuggle closer to Hex’s chest. Before he turned his face, however, everyone in the clearing had a clear view of two wickedly pointed canines gleaming in the moonlight.
“So, he’s…he…” Onyx’s eyes were as big around as dinner plates, and he shook his head back and forth frantically. “What does this mean? Is he still going to know us? Will he still be our mate?”
“Of course he will,” Jinx said kindly as he patted Onyx on the back in comfort. Then he turned, crossed his arms over his chest, and smirked at Myst. “He’ll just be your little
bloodsucker
now.”
“Does it hurt? I mean, when he drinks from us, will it hurt?” Myst rubbed at his neck and grimaced. “I’ve never had someone bite me before.”
“It doesn’t hurt,” Eyce and Hex said at the same time.
Hex remembered the two vamps drinking from his wrists, but there hadn’t been any pain. That’s not to say it had been a pleasurable experience. Maybe it would be different with Echo. The thought of his blood flowing inside his mate made Hex’s heart pound and his dick throb. Pushing away his less than noble thoughts, he returned his attention to Jinx. “Is there anything we need to do for him?”
“Just be there when he wakes up. He’s going to feel like he’s on fire, and his throat will ache as though he’s gargled glass. It shouldn’t last more than a week or two, though. I was born this way, and I’m afraid I don’t know much about made vampires.”
“I don’t know anything about vampires, so you’re one up on me,” Eyce said with a shake of his head. “Is he going to have to answer to the vamp that changed him? That’s how it works in the movies. They’re bound to their makers.”
A feral growl rumbled in Hex’s chest and right up through his snarling lips. His mate would be
bound
to no one but them. He was already set on finding the bastard that had hurt Echo and ripping him apart slowly. This only cemented the fucker’s fate.
Jinx chuckled, though. “No, it doesn’t work that way. He won’t be bound to them, though if they’ve had his blood, they’ll be able to find him until it works its way out of their system. He’s completely yours, however, so no worries.”
Though relieved to hear his mate wouldn’t be condemned to walk beside someone else for all eternity, Hex couldn’t help but snort at Jinx’s reassurances.
No worries, indeed.
Their troubles were multiplying by the minute.
* * * *
Hot. It was so damn hot.
Echo rolled to his side with a groan, his legs sawing back and forth against each other. The sheets beneath him were damp, his hair clung to his sweaty face, and his skin felt like it was melting off of his bones.
“Echo?”
“Drink,” he croaked. His mouth was desert dry and so sticky his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. His throat burned and ached, the muscles convulsing as he tried to swallow. He was so damn thirsty.
“Echo, baby, come here,” Hex whispered and gathered Echo into his arms. “I’m going to help you, but you have to do exactly what I say.”
Crying out in pain, Echo curled into a ball on Hex’s lap as sharp pains ripped through his stomach. It was like one of those sci-fi movies, and he just knew there was an alien trying to crawl out of his stomach. What the hell had happened to him?
“Drink,” he whispered again. “So, thirsty, Hex.”
“I know, baby. I’m going to help you,” his lover repeated. “Can you open your eyes?”
With a great deal of effort, Echo managed to drag his eyelids open and blink up at his mate. His eyes didn’t go to Hex’s face, though, but locked onto the pulsing vein throbbing in the man’s throat. He inhaled deeply, a soft growl slipping through his panting lips when the sweetest smell hit his nose.
Uncurling himself, he pushed up straighter in Hex’s lap, leaning closer to his lover’s throat as he followed the rich scent. His mouth went even drier if possible, his gums ached, and he darted his tongue out to lick a long line along the column of Hex’s throat.
There, right there. That’s where the amazing smell emanated from. He licked again then skimmed his nose along the same path, inhaling deeply as his body shuddered.
Hex’s large hand came up to cradle the back of his head, urging his mouth closer. “Drink, baby. Take what you need.”
Need, oh, yes, he needed. Sucking the warm flesh into his mouth, he swirled his tongue over the pulsing vein twice before sinking his teeth into it. The first rush of blood over his tongue was the most divine thing Echo had ever tasted. He moaned throatily, drawing on the wound, desperate for more of the sweet nectar that flowed into his parched mouth.
Again and again, he sucked on his lover’s neck, pulling more of the life-giving essence into his mouth as he moved to straddle Hex’s powerful thighs. His hands roamed over his mate’s broad shoulders and down his perfectly chiseled chest. He rocked his hips, pushing his swollen cock against Hex’s belly.
Hex began to breathe heavily, his arms locking around Echo’s back and crushing him close. Deep moans vibrated his chest, and he thrust up against Echo, grinding his hard cock over Echo’s ass.
Then without warning, his entire body tensed, and he roared out as streams of cum erupted from his slit. Echo felt the splash of his lover’s release along his crease. To know he’d brought his lover such pleasure was a heady feeling, and with one final draw on the small puncture, he followed Hex over the edge, groaning as his climax ripped through him and he filled the space between them with his seed.
Gently extracting his teeth from Hex’s neck, Echo licked over the bite and sighed. “Thank you.” His head felt groggy, and his limbs were heavy. “Tired,” he whispered then snuggled against his lover’s chest and closed his eyes.
He licked his lips, groaning at the few drops of Hex’s blood that exploded over his taste buds.
So good, so sweet, so absolutely delectable.
His tongue roamed the inside of his mouth, looking for any traces of the ambrosia he may have missed. He licked at the back of his teeth, his tongue grazing over fangs.
Fangs?
Echo’s eyes snapped open, and he jerked upright to stare at Hex with wide eyes. His gaze drifted to the already-healing puncture marks at his lover’s neck. “I bit you,” he gasped in disbelief. “Oh, Hex, I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened. I didn’t mean...I–I…oh, gods.” He buried his face in Hex’s neck and immediately groaned as the scent of his mate’s blood made his head spin and his mouth water.
Pushing away, he tried to scramble out of Hex’s lap, crying out when Hex held him immobile. “No! Stop, please. You have to let me go. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I don’t want to hurt you again. Please!” Was it his imagination, or did Hex look a little paler?
“Echo, stop. You didn’t hurt me. Calm down, baby, and I’ll explain.”
Echo didn’t stop struggling, though. Already, his throat began to burn again, and he could feel the fire coursing through his body. His gums tingled, and he ached to sink his teeth into Hex’s neck again. “Please,” he sobbed. “I can’t do this. I already took too much.”
“You didn’t take enough,” Hex admonished. “You won’t hurt me. Let me help you. Let me feed you.”
“What the fuck is wrong with me?” Echo sobbed. He was human. He didn’t drink blood. So, why was he leaning closer to Hex’s neck? Why was his body vibrating with need as he slowly licked along his mate’s salty flesh?
As his sharp canines pierced the yielding flesh once more, Echo realized something else had changed as well. He’d always referred to his lovers as his mates, but the word held more power now.
He licked and sucked, groaning in pleasure as the hot liquid poured into his mouth. With every deep draw, something primal rose up inside of him—a fierce possessiveness that clouded all other thoughts. The man he held in his arms was his mate, his destiny, the air he breathed, and Echo’s cock swelled and throbbed at the recognition.
Was this what it was like for his men? Is this how they felt every time they were near him? The deep, all-consuming need to brand him, claim him, and mark him as taken?
Easing away, Echo didn’t understand how he knew what to do, but he slowly tilted his head to the side, baring his neck to Hex. “Please,” he breathed, fisting his hands in Hex’s hair and pulling him closer.
Hex didn’t disappoint, and the instant his sharp teeth sank into Echo’s neck, Echo moaned and shuddered, his cock erupting in more strings of pearly cream. He felt the connection, the bond, snap into place, and he smiled in contentment just before everything went black, and he passed out in his mate’s arms.
Chapter Five
Holding Echo to his chest, Hex combed his fingers through his mate’s hair, nuzzling his cheek over the top of Echo’s head. He knew he needed to get them both cleaned and settled down before the sun came up, but he just wanted to hold his baby for a little while longer.
Echo had claimed him. It was the single most erotic experience of his life, and they’d barely even touched. His heart felt full to bursting, and his throat constricted with his emotions.