Blood Lust

CHAPTER SIX



The sun had barely set when the anticipated knock sounded on the door. Cringing about what he had to do, he went to answer. Seth entered without invitation, hair drawn back, expression thunderous.



“Guess that bit about not being able to enter without invitation’s hooey.” Isaac closed the door.



“Myth.” He faced Isaac, stepping close and gazing down from his considerable height. The light in those burgundy eyes bordered on fiendish. “You left my bed while I rested, when I could not object.”



“Some of us have day jobs,” he returned. “I had a really good time. But, you can’t afford the kind of attention you’d get in association with me. And, I can’t afford for my predominantly heterosexual demographic finding out I’ll bat for the other team. You keep to your turf, I keep to mine.” He exhaled shakily, feeling more vulnerable and naked than he had the previous night in bed with the man. Vampire, he mentally corrected.



“You jest.” His tone clearly betrayed that he didn’t care to have anyone fool with him.



“No.” Isaac braced himself. “I’ve thought it through and made up my mind this thing with us is a piss-poor idea.”



“We share a passion that transcends gender and species. Not honoring that would be a great wrong.”



Put like that, it made him seem like a real asshole. “I agree it’s unfair. All the same, I have to think about my career.” Isaac saw Seth reaching out, and when he attempted to intercept his hand, he found himself pulled into those long, powerful arms. Hot lust ripped through him as memories of their time together swept through his brain like clips from an erotic movie. Everything in him wanted to melt into the hard body pressing his, and offer this creature of legend and fantasy anything he wished. “I mean it,” Isaac managed to whisper.



“As do I.” His mouth covered Isaac’s: hot, damp, demanding.



He tried to summon the will to fight. His body responded so forcefully, it made reason difficult. Averting his head, he panted, “You’re doing the mind control thing.”



“I’m not.” His blood teeth sank into Isaac’s throat and the universe shrank to the beating of his heart and the dangerous, seductive pleasure dragging through his body.



He clung to Seth’s much larger body, kept upright by his arms alone. “You’re … stronger than me … mentally and physically. Don’t force … me.” In a heartbeat he lay upon the couch.



Seth stood across the room looking more feral than the pack he hunted with. His chest heaved and his fangs had not retracted. “I have eluded your kind for over a century, and I would not cause you difficulty with your career. No one ever need know about me.”



Dazed, but no where near so much as previously, Isaac sat up and put his feet on the floor. “Trying to stay smart about this. Not think with my dick.”



“I have marked you,” Seth revealed quietly, confirming what Isaac had suspected. “Others of my species will sense it and come seeking what attracted me.”



“Then, I’ll send them packing, too.”



A cold chuckle before them made the words more potent. “You think they'll politely release you as I just did? Few of my breed have the self-possession, or ever care to indulge their food source.”



“That what I am to you?” The question slipped out before he could check himself.



“No, Isaac.” He appeared to forcibly compose himself. “You’re the one capable of making a pet of me.” Leveling that potent gaze upon him, Seth added, “For the taste of your mouth alone, you could command me.”



Grateful he remained seated, Isaac absorbed the emotional blow. “I want you to leave.” His hands shook as they rested upon the couch’s edge. “Your secret’s safe. Just go.”



He heard the door, but did not see Seth leave.





Throwing himself into his work, Isaac hammered out ten chapters in a week. He exercised Poppy, kept up his chores and tried to think about anything except his neighbor. He sent the chapters to his editor and waited for the usual return blast of criticism.



Unwilling to sally forth creatively before he knew what she’d requested changed, he cleaned out closets and researched. At the end of his reserve, he laid awake in bed, listening to the wind howl.



Isaac’s cock began to swell and jerk on his belly. He could not keep his thoughts from Seth. Tentatively, he reached out. Seth?



Yes?



If you can deal with no strings or assumptions, come get me.



In a blink, he found himself in his lover’s arms. “I tried to quit you.”



“I knew I couldn’t quit you, sweet boy.”



It felt like they floated, and then he reclined in Seth’s subterranean bed. “I love that you can do that.”



Seth kissed him, changing the angle of his head as he undressed them both. “I savor the taste of that word on your lips.”



Isaac surrendered completely. “You can have me. Whatever you want.”