Page 60 of Accidental Blood Lust
Loch grimaces again and brings the mug up to his nose for a cautious sniff. I didn’t know a vampire could actually turn green, but I swear his pale skin takes on a chartreuse hue. He sets the mug back down on the table and puts his face in his hands.
“What am I going to do?” he groans.
I reach behind Roman and rub Loch’s neck. I knew he was struggling with this, but I had no idea how bad it was. Any lingering shred of disgust I felt over his decision vanishes instantly. He’s not like those monsters who attacked me all those years ago. He’s too sweet to even stomach blood, let alone hurt anyone.
Roman reaches for another empty mug on the table and sets it down right in front of himself. His index finger contorts and his nail lengthens into a sharp claw. He grunts quietly as he drags the razor-sharp talon down his wrist, opening it up. I understand what he’s doing now. I hold the mug up for him, right underneath the flow of his blood. He gives me a grateful smile and pumps his fingers open and closed a few times to increase the flow until the mug is about half-full and his wound is already healing.
Loch slowly lowers his hands from his face and sniffs cautiously. “Roman, you didn’t have to?—”
“That’s what mates are for,” he says simply, handing Loch the new mug.
Loch looks down into it, and I can already see the difference on his face—hunger instead of disgust, his fangs lengthening and his irises glowing a faint red. He shakes his head though.
“I can’t do this forever though. I can’t expect you and Jare…” He stops and his eyes flicker in my direction, full of shame. “I’ll never take what you don’t want to give me, Jareth. I swear it.”
I push my chair back and move to stand behind him, wrapping my arms around him and kissing his cool, smooth cheek.
“I know that. I trust you. There’s no reason you can’t feed from the two of us exclusively, is there?” I cast a look in Cassius’s direction just to be sure. Vampires don’t get nutrient deficiencies or anything, do they?
“It shouldn’t be a problem. If anything, between your magic and Roman’s shifter blood, he’ll be incredibly strong.”
“That’s settled, then.” Roman nudges the mug of his blood closer to Loch before leaning over and nuzzling his ear. “I think it’s sexy that it’s only our blood inside you,” he murmurs quietly, nipping Loch’s earlobe. I nod in agreement and kiss him one more time before taking my seat again and finally digging into my breakfast.
ROMAN
A satisfied feelingswells in my chest to see my mate sipping my blood while we all eat. I fill my plate with steak and eggs, like Mac and Drax have, and Jare squeezes my thigh under the table.
“I’m still working on my research. I have to track down a couple of other notebooks. Atlas and I will pop around to some of my properties later today to look for them,” Rune says, “but you can feel free to do the draining and feeding any time you like, since Cassius and you three can handle that.”
Loch licks a droplet of blood off his bottom lip and shifts in his seat.
“Are we sure all of this is necessary? I mean, that guy… fairy… whatever,sucked, but I did kill him. It seems kind of extreme to go to war and set people on fire and stuff when it’s my fault as much as his. Couldn’t we send his friends a gift basket or someflowers with a card that says something like, ‘Sorry I killed your prince, but he was trying to enslave me. My bad.’ and hope this whole thing blows over?”
He sounds so earnest that I have to choke back laughter around my bite of eggs. Affection swells in my chest and I’m even more sure than I was ten seconds ago that I will do anything and everything in my power to protect this ridiculous, naive, sweet vampire for the rest of our existence. Everyone else around the table exchanges glances, and apparently Rune is silently nominated to take this one.
“Really cute idea, but that would absolutely end with every single one of us dead.”
“Well, shit.” Loch sighs, sticking his finger into the blood in his mug, swirling it around, then putting his finger in his mouth to lick it off.
I swallow down another laugh. I guess it really doesn’t bother him when it’s our blood. My wolf preens at that, and I lean over to rub my cheek against the crook of Loch’s neck to scent him just a little more, even though he still smells perfect, just like pack. I can only imagine how good he’ll smell once I’ve marked him and mated him. My cock swells and my wolf nearly goes feral at the idea.
“Should we fill Auri in on everything?” Mac asks.
Drax grunts. “Probably a good idea.”
“Yeah.” I sigh.
As if summoned by his name—honestly, maybe he was, I have no clue how Auri works—our boss appears at the head of the table with his horns on full display and his long hair blowing in a nonexistent breeze. Drax definitely nailed it with Auri’s flair for the dramatic.
“My ears were burning, pets.” He smirks, his gaze fixed on me. “It sounds like our guests have been getting into trouble. Maybe we should talk.”
I guess we’d better get this over with.
NINETEEN
LOCHLAN
I can’t stop staring at the darkly ethereal demon standing at the head of our table. He’s taking us all in one by one with his glowing eyes, but his aura is warm and friendly, not at all matching his intimidating looks. His long hair shimmers and blows in a breeze I can’t feel, and his talon-like nails click on the table as his gaze lands on Roman.
