Page 45 of His Eternal Temptation

“Why don’t you let me help you relax?” Lane stroked Rowan’s lips a third time, a fourth. “See if we can get your mind to quiet while your coven takes care of the rest?”

No, I need to… Rowan pushed away the impulse.

Cecile was capable of handling anything in his place. Felix and Emile, too. Not to mention the nearly two dozen other Valeros, all vampires he’d chosen carefully and looked out for. They’d gladly return the favor.

Rowan was safe here, in his home full of people, never alone, with a club to dance in and be human, a casino for the magic world to gather in, and space for his coven to live in if they chose. Here with Lane, who fit unexpectedly, it felt as if Rowan had held a space at his side for him all this time.

“Please,” he begged.

Lane gripped his chin between thumb and forefinger. “Can I kiss you?”

“Yes.” Rowan angled his face, waiting for Lane to close the remaining distance. To give him what he wanted so desperately.

Lane’s lips brushed Rowan’s, his mustache tickling. Rowan sighed into the kiss, parting easily, wantonly. Lane hummed and deepened his kiss, pressing harder, working with clear purpose, his hand tangling in Rowan’s hair.

Rowan’s fangs prickled, throbbing with an unbearable ache. He pulled away from Lane at vampire speed, and his fangs dropped without permission.

Lane lurched forward, suddenly off balance, and his wide eyes landed on Rowan’s fangs. “Are you hungry?”

“No.” Rowan’s insides coiled. He felt like a newly turned vampire, an immature man who couldn’t handle himself.

Pathetic, the intrusive voice said, crashing over his sensitive skin.

“Hey, it’s fine.” Lane turned Rowan’s face toward him, catching him before he could hide completely. “You feeling eager? A little needy?”

“Something like that.” Rowan was too raw, too exposed. Worn down and out of control. It would be so easy for Lane to hurt him. Reject him. Bring back the shame Cris had instilled in him. He needed to protect himself.

He shouldn’t do this.

Lane smiled, wicked but not unkind. “Mm. Exactly how I like my good boys to be. Desperate and clinging to me.”

Rowan stopped breathing, a fire of pure lust igniting inside him.

Lane crowded forward, pressing Rowan into the couch. “Will you be a good, needy boy for me?”

Fuck, he’d kill Rowan with words alone.

It wasn’t as if he’d never had this. He’d explored his kinks extensively, but it hit different when the person calling him a good boy knew his past haunted him, even if most details remained unspoken.

“Yes, Lane. I can be good and needy for you. If you’ll take care of me.”

“Anyone who doesn’t take care of the pieces of yourself you offer has something to answer for.” Lane sounded hard, no longer playful, a shadow passing over his face.

Rowan was killing the mood. Fuck. He needed to speak more plainly, not rely on Lane reading his mind. “That isn’t what I meant. My current partners haven’t hurt me. I’m trying to say: we aren’t coming at this in my usual manner. I’m submissive. I like being told what to do and taken care of, but I don’t mix sex with life. No one gets both. No one takes care of me outside sex. But I don’t know if I can keep that distance with you.”

I might start needing you in other ways. Beyond sex. At least until the curse broke. After, they’d go their separate ways. Could Rowan handle the separation if he let Lane in? Was it already too late?

Lane seemed thoughtful, mulling over the bits and pieces Rowan had managed to say out loud. “I’m aware you didn’t invite me into your life, and I don’t want you showing me things because you feel you have to. Do you want to keep your usual distance with me?”

Rowan’s heart jolted, nearly painful. “No. That’s why I’m asking you to tread carefully.”

Understanding dawned, Lane’s blue-gray gaze soft as snow. “I can respect separating how you live your life from the needy side you let out during sex. You’re still the badass vampire who holds down this city, no matter what you share with me. Even if you share feelings that run counter to your image. Or ask for something you haven’t had before, sexually or otherwise. We can all be more than one thing without canceling anything out.”

It was all Rowan needed to hear. He grabbed Lane by the front of his shirt and hauled him close, kissing as frantically as he could around his fangs.

“Fuck me over my desk,” he begged like he’d wanted it all his life. “Have both sides of me at once.”

Lane smiled against him. “Damn, Rowan. Really?”