Chapter five

Jeff

"Hello?"

"Hey," I breathe out, finding that my voice is caught in my throat. The amount of relief I feel from hearing Ronny's voice is unexplainable. "Ronny?"

"Oh my gods," Ronny blurts out, "Jeff? Is that you? Fuck, where are you, bossman? We can be on our way right now."

"No, no," I say right away, a prickling sensation gathering behind my eyes. Fuck. I didn't realize how badly I needed to hear my teams' voices until right now. All of my emotions are heightened, threatening to choke me. I tuck my nose into Axel's hoodie, breathing him in and letting his scent calm me down. "You can't come. But I'm--" I stop myself from saying alive. Because really, that would be a lie. Kinda? Fuck. Why does vampirism have to be so goddamn confusing? "I'm okay," I say instead.

"You don't sound so good," Ronny says, his voice filled with suspicion. Not that I blame him. I would be suspicious if our roles were reversed. "If you're being held against your will, say a sentence with peanut butter in it."

"Ronny," I say slowly, needing him to hear my sincerity. "I'm safe. I'm somewhere safe at the moment being taken care of. I promise you."

"Good enough for me. I have your location based on the cell phone you're using."

"I told you not to come here!"

"But, bossman!"

"No buts, Ronny. It's not safe," I tell him, trying to ignore the way my voice is growing pitchier with worry. I don't know if I can control myself around my team. What if I do something to hurt them? What if I'm driven to bite them? What if the thirst becomes too much. No, I won't put them in harm's way.

"You said you were safe but now you're not in a safe place? Make it make sense, Jeff."

I let out a long sigh, rubbing tiredly at my eyes. "Okay. So here's the thing."

A long moment passes. And then another. When I still don't say anything, Ronny jumps back in. "Go on, Jeff. Spell it out for me."

"Can't you just trust me?"

"I can. And do. Very much so. With my life even. But right now you're being suspicious as hell. Maybe you're some sort of shapeshifter who's stolen Jeff's voice and using it as leverage to get me to fall into your trap."

That finally makes me crack the tiniest smile. I've trained my team well and Ronny knows his stuff, even if he goes about it in the cheesiest ways at times.

"Alright. I can prove I'm not a shapeshifter by reminding you of that case we took in Vegas last year--"

"And I think I've heard enough!" I chuckle, fondness making my chest warm. "You're definitely the real Jeff." I hear some shuffling from the other line before someone else is taking the phone.

"Hey, Jeff. It's Cooper. What do you need from us?"

My chest loosens. I knew they would have my back, even if it meant a little bit of interrogation before we got to work. I smile as I sit back in my seat.

"Glad to hear your voice, Cooper."

"Yours too."

"I need a delivery to the address Ronny was tracking me at. But I need you to leave the box at the door."

"Okay," Cooper says, his voice sounding slightly unsure. I hear him ask Ronny about talking to me about a code word and hear Ronny yell about being competent despite being a computer nerd. "What sorta delivery do you need?"

"I would love everything you have about baby vampires. How they're made, how they're fed. Any sort of information you have about the connection sires have on the vampires they create. Just anything like that."

There's a long pause that makes my stomach sink. I wait for disapproval or hate or disgust.

"Oh, Jeff."

I push my fingers against my closed eyes so hard I begin to see spots, trying to fight against the onslaught of emotion barreling through me. I let out a shaky breath.

"Umm, yeah," is all I can find to say.

"You're okay, Jeff. We've got you. Okay?"

A noise leaves my lips, something between relief and a sob. It gets stuck in my throat. "Are you?" Upset? Disgusted? Ready to come put me down?

"It doesn't matter," Cooper says, his voice leaving no room for argument. "And even if we were upset, you shouldn't care. All that matters is that you're safe. Are you still you?"

I take a moment to answer, really feeling searching within myself. I'm still Jeff. I'm still a hunter. I still love my team. I still want to do my best to do good. "Yes."

"Exactly. Hold onto that, Jeff."

I stare at Axel's tablecloth for a long moment. Finally, I find the words I'm looking for. "Thank you."

"You've no reason to thank me. You'd do the same if this was reversed."

I shake my head even though I know Cooper can't see it. "But still. Thank you."

Instead of adding more, Cooper pivots topics back to the matters at hand. "I'll have that package on your doorstep by the end of the night. Do you need anything else? Clothes? Weapons?"

"Some of my own clothes would be nice." I guess, I add in my head. My fingers play with the front of Axel's hoodies. Sure, my own clothes would be comfortable but Axel's feel so much better and smell so good.

Why does his scent make me feel so at home?

"You got it, boss. Now hunker down and take care of yourself, alright? We've got the rest covered."

Once the call is over, I stand up. All of the adrenaline of making that call comes crashing down and I find myself wanting to go for a run. Or shoot something. Or do a thousand push-ups. Or drink an entire deer dry.

Wait. Fuck. No. Not that one.

I shake out my hands, getting them to stop shaking as I step out of Axel's kitchen towards his bedroom. I'm not sure what compels me to find my way into his bed once again. Maybe it's the fact that it smells so much like him here, or maybe it's just the idea of laying down and sleeping this adrenaline haze off. Either way, I find myself face planting into Axel's bed.

That was a mistake.

The moment my face hits his pillow, I'm lost. His scent surrounds me, setting something buried deep inside of me ablaze. One moment, I'm thinking of taking a nap and the next, I'm rock hard in my sweatpants, just barely keeping myself from humping Axel's sheets.

Gods, what's coming over me?

I flip over onto my back, staring down at my erection which is tenting the front of my pants. I close my eyes, listening for any signs of Axel's return. When I come up empty, I throw the final shreds of my self-control right out the window.

My body is burning with lust so bright I'm not sure anything will be able to put it out until I've found some form of relief. Fuck. Why is my body reacting like this? Why do I crave Axel so fucking badly? Is this part of becoming a vampire or is this something else entirely?

I run my hand down my chest towards my cock. The breath I don't even need to survive stutters in my chest. Fuck. Everything feels so good, so overwhelming. Like a fan stirring the flames, my lust is only growing hotter.

The moment I wrap my hand around my aching cock through my sweats, I know there's no turning back. There's no way I could pull myself away from the edge. It's too late, I'm already gone.

"Fuck," I gasp out, throwing caution to the wind and instead, pushing my hand into my pants in order to stroke myself properly. "Fuck, yes."

The only thing that would make this better is if Axel was here with me.

I shouldn't be thinking about him like this. I shouldn't be touching myself in his bed, while wearing his clothes. But I can't seem to stop myself now that I've started. I've opened the door a crack and now the floodgates of feelings are rushing towards me and I have nowhere to run.

Precum makes the slide easy as I stroke my cock, tightening my fist around the head. So many things about myself have changed in such a short period of time but I'm happy to report that this seems to still be the same.

I tuck my nose into Axel's hoodie and close my eyes, letting his scent wash over me. This feels so wrong and yet, there's something about it being wrong that seems to make it even hotter. I'm going to mark his sheets with my cum.

A growl rips through my chest without my permission at the idea of marking Axel's bed in my scent. Fuck. Some animalistic part of me needs it more than I need anything else. I want him covered in my cum, in my bites, in my marks. I want my team to show up and see him completely claimed by me.

Where are these thoughts coming from? And why don't I want to push them aside?

"Fuck! Axel!"

My stomach swoops as his name leaves my lips. Would he like that? Would he beg for my fangs?

My hand moves even faster as I chase my pleasure. It only takes the picture of my fangs plunging into Axel's pale skin to have my orgasm rushing through me. My back bows off the bed as I'm overcome with pleasure. Cum covers the inside of Axel's sweats and that only seems to drive my pleasure higher, knowing his clothes will smell like me now. Like us.

As I lay there panting for breath I don't need, my ears pick up a sound.

I completely freeze, looking over at the entrance of Axel's room to find the vampire of my fantasies there. His eyes are wide as he stares at me.

I let out a long sigh and cover my face with my hands. "Fuck."