Chapter 18

Chapter 18

For once, Fernando had several days in a row that went smoothly.

Yes, it was a miracle.

No, he was not questioning it. Just enjoying.

Four days went by without anything alarming happening. He'd made Noel take the next week off, so he'd have time to emotionally recover, and of course Fernando worked from home to keep an eye on his new boyfriend. His blood had definitely sped the healing along, but he didn't want Noel to be alone. Plus he liked having him in this more casual setting. It was incredibly rewarding, really, to leisurely spend time with Noel. Plus he could scoop him up on a whim and kiss him, which was delightful.

It only cemented his confidence that Noel needed to move in sooner rather than later.

Most vampires would tell you that sleeping at night actually felt somewhat strange. They still did it, keeping the rhythm of the humans around them as too much happened during the day. But the truly old vampires, the generation zeroes like Fernando, didn't need much sleep at all. For the most part, they slept because they wanted to. Like cats.

All that said, he would often go to sleep next to Noel, but would wake up an hour or so later. He'd get up and fiddle around the house, sometimes practicing an instrument, and somewhere in the wee hours of the morning he'd finally feel tired enough to rest in the bed without constantly turning like a rotisserie chicken. He'd slip back beneath the sheets and cuddle up with Noel so he could have the delight of waking up to that sleepy, sweet face.

Tonight, though, tonight proved harder than usual. Fernando unfortunately knew why. With all the chaos of the past month, he'd completely forgotten to feed. His scheduled feeding on the day of the warehouse fiasco hadn't happened, and he kept forgetting to reschedule. The thirst was an ache in his gums, and his throat felt like sandpaper, something very hard to ignore. Also not something that a blood bag could fix. Assuming he even had any left in the house and memory told him that he did not.

Lying here, next to Noel who was so soft and warm and tucked in against Fernando, was like cuddling with temptation. Look at that smooth, pale column of flesh so close to his mouth. He could practically taste the rich blood running underneath that thin skin.

Fernando's fangs started to descend, tips scraping at the interior of his lips. No , dammit, he should not—would not—feed from his unsuspecting boyfriend like this. Noel hadn't even suggested being okay with that, to start with, and asking now while he was asleep and defenseless was—damn, he smelled amazing. Fernando breathed in a deep lungful, nose practically pressed against Noel's skin. Surely a little nibble wouldn't hurt?

Fuck. Stop it.

"Fernando?"

He froze. Shit. He'd woken up Noel. Damn you greedy instincts, you couldn't have reigned yourself in?

Regretful, he pulled back, only to be drawn short when Noel's hand clamped around his shoulders, pulling him back in. What was this?

" Noel ,"—don't sound so harsh and desperate, man, act your age—"I really need you to let me go."

"You're thirsty, aren't you?"

Um, that obvious? "I've neglected to feed as of late. It's fine, I'll just step out for a while—"

"Why? You don't want to feed from me?"

Fernando successfully pulled back this time and stared into those wide, innocent eyes. He felt all sanity swiftly exit the building. Want? It was such a pitiful, pathetic word, utterly inadequate to describe the deep need living within him.

He scrambled for reason, restraint, anything to make him pause. "Noel. This might hurt; do you even know what you're offering?"

"I have heard enough stories that I know what I'm getting in to," Noel assured him, a touch of dryness in his tone. "Your guys talk a lot."

Ah. They would, at that.

"Still, and this is the selfish part of me, but I don't want you feeding from someone else. I don't want you that close to another person."

Look at his Noel, so beautifully possessive. His willpower chose that moment to bow out and frankly, Fernando didn't even try to hold onto it. He'd just been given full permission to do the very thing he desperately wanted, so who was he to argue?

Leaning in, he kissed Noel's jaw, traveling down to that slim neck, finding a spot that smelled the most delectable. Not wanting to cause any more discomfort than necessary, he licked the skin, applying that inherent anesthetic, preparing Noel for the bite itself.

His boyfriend tried to wiggle in closer, hips pressed up against Fernando's. Well, he clearly enjoyed this part, at least. Good. That made it easier on both of them.

Unable to wait a second longer, he sank fangs into Noel's skin. He felt the rush of warm, delicious blood filling his mouth and just about lost control. So exquisite and rich, like a darkly brewed coffee. Fernando had never tasted blood this good in his life, and considering how long he'd been alive, that was saying something. Each pull somehow tasted better, which didn't encourage him to stop anytime soon.

Soft gasps caressed his shoulder, egging him on. There was no trace of pain in that captivating sound. Noel's hands scrambled over his back, trying to find a handhold, before landing on Fernando's ass. He used it like leverage to push his own hips into Fernando's, grinding on him.

Holy shit. Noel was hard.

He'd gotten hard from this?

Excitement flooded through Fernando. He'd never had someone react like this to him when feeding, and for Noel of all people to be this compatible with vampires—with him—it was like a dream come true. He shifted a hand down, slipping under Noel's loose pajama pants, finding a hardened cock and giving it a loving squeeze.

"Ah!" Noel's fingers dug even harder into his skin.

Knowing that he shouldn't take any more blood, Fernando lifted his head.

"Nooo," Noel growled out in protest.

That reaction amused him, but he wouldn't risk Noel's health to indulge gluttony. Besides, he was incredibly sated right now, and drinking any more would just send him into a food coma.

Knowing what Noel would like, he switched to the other side of that smooth neck, but didn't sink fangs in this time. He instead latched onto the skin, sucking hard, and felt Noel's wordless plea for more, like a vibration against his lips.

Frantic hands tore at Fernando's pants, pushing them down, which was a relief to his own cock. The confines of his pants had gotten uncomfortable. Slim fingers wrapped around his shaft and started working it, and the warm touch felt divine.

He had to kiss him, he just had to. Fernando shifted his grip until he had Noel's head captured in the crook of his elbow, then leaned in to kiss that tempting mouth. Noel kissed him back immediately, his free hand diving into Fernando's hair and gripping hard. This man's passion and need for him ignited long-forgotten desires, and Fernando kissed him with deep, drugging kisses, swallowing the delicious sounds coming out of Noel's mouth.

Fernando worked his lover's dick in sync with Noel's own movement, the tandem touches bringing them both ever closer to climax. He could see Noel's passion building to the breaking point, feel it in the way his breath shuddered and hitched. Look at him, so beautiful, so wild with need and hungry for release.

Impulse seized Fernando and he returned to the bite mark and latched on, nursing it for any drops of blood.

The hand in his hair suddenly gripped hard, tugging to the point of pleasant pain, Noel shuddering as he abruptly climaxed over Fernando's hand. The sensation of it all overwhelmed his heightened senses like the most delightful bouquet—the hot taste of iron, the salty smell of semen, the feel of the sharp tug on his scalp.

Fernando shoved hard into the hand still holding onto his cock and felt his groin abruptly tighten. He groaned his release against Noel's neck, body weight still mostly on the smaller man, but unable to shift away as it felt so perfect staying right where he was.

For a long moment, they lay there, just breathing and curled up tightly in each other's arms, their afterglow holding sway over them.

Eventually, Noel stirred a little, kissing right underneath Fernando's ear. "You okay?"

"You," Fernando managed, "are the sweetest drug to ever walk about on two legs."

Noel snorted out a laugh. "I'll accept that compliment. I had no idea feeding a vampire would feel that intense. I'd like to think some of it is because of our natural chemistry, but still. The stories didn't make it sound this good."

Right. Now this was a serious conversation they needed to have. Fernando gathered his scattered wits and managed to prop himself up on one elbow. Better position to have a conversation.

Noel's blond hair was a disarrayed mess, with two obvious marks on either side of his neck growing darker by the minute. He had clearly enjoyed himself, and the whole well-sated look was seductive enough Fernando wanted to just jump him all over again.

But no, talk first. He'd seduce Noel again after.

"It's not normally like this," Fernando denied gently. "Stories have painted feeding as somewhat pleasant for the human, but with pain from the feeding, correct? That's how it normally is."

Noel was always quick to catch on and his eyes flared wide as he realized what Fernando was implying. "Wait. Does that mean…surely I'm not a mate? Aren't those rare?"

"It's possible. Either that or you're very, very compatible with vampire physiology. Either way, you've just become incredibly desirable to the vampire society at large."

He gave Noel a much needed second to think. He stared at Fernando for a long moment as if struggling to digest his words.

For that matter, Fernando was still reeling from the revelation. He'd known Noel was special, but this special? He would have never predicted such an outcome.

"Can we—" Noel stopped, swallowed, and then tried again. "Can we test this somehow? Just so I know."

"We can, yes. I can use Prestige or Mesmerize on you, see if you react to those. That would tell us immediately."

Noel still looked shell-shocked but gave a willing nod. "Okay, that sounds good. I just really want to know, one way or another."

"I do as well." Fernando decided they needed to clean up a little first. He doubted they'd be able to just go to bed after this without talking it through, no matter which way the answer fell.

Fernando slipped off the bed, heading for the en suite bathroom. He dampened a hand towel and swiped himself clean, dropping pajama bottoms onto the bathroom floor as it didn't bother him to walk about naked.

Then, standing in the bathroom door, mischief struck. He cast Mesmerize without warning and ordered softly, "Noel. Come here."

Noel sat up in the bed, watching him, his head canted to the side. He also seemed somewhat distracted by Fernando's naked self, which both amused him and stroked his ego. "Uh, why? Shower?"

Fernando froze on the spot at that reaction. Look at him. Noel didn't look the least bit charmed or influenced. "Gods above and below, you don't even feel it, do you?"

Noel scrambled up onto his knees, blurting out, "Wait, did you just try something?"

"Mesmerize."

"Really?!"

Noel really hadn't felt any part of Fernando's power. Sheer joy punched through him, and he was so elated, so mesmerized by all the potential ahead of them, that he felt like he could take flight right that second. Finding a mate was almost legendary, that's how rare it was. Yet here he stood with a man he already loved to bits, knowing he'd be able to keep Noel the rest of his life.

This beautiful, intelligent man was a true mate. Of all the people it could be, Fernando couldn't think of someone more worthy to be pampered and adored the rest of their life. He was incredibly lucky and privileged to have found Noel first.

"A mate," Noel stammered, eyes blind as he looked ahead. "I'm a mate? What…am I even supposed to do?"

Silly man, like he had to do anything about it. Fernando's mood had been lifted from the satisfying feeding and amazing orgasm, but this information sent him right over the edge into insufferably smug. He practically waltzed back to the bed, yanking Noel's pants completely off, which didn't take much effort as they were half off already.

"I, uh, I can clean myself off—" Noel started.

"Shhh." Fernando cradled him closely as he wiped their combined semen off Noel, his swipes gentle and thorough. "You asked what you should do? Prepare to be loved and pampered for every second the rest of your life. That's all you need to do."

A deep blush was high on his cheeks, but Noel let him clean up. He did protest one thing, though. "Uh, I know the movies portray true mates as being spoiled and treated like royalty, but surely that's an exaggeration? I mean, it's not accurate, right?"

"It's not accurate," Fernando agreed. He tossed the washcloth toward the bathroom door before capturing Noel's chin with two fingers, angling his face so he could kiss that sweet mouth. After breaking the kiss, Fernando murmured above those parted lips, "The movies make a poor showing of it. You will be treated like a deity."

"Oh." Noel swallowed hard, eyes wide in his face. "I…see. No, I don't see. Why me?"

"No one knows. And trust me, we vampires would dearly love to figure it out. My main concern is how you feel about all this."

A frown brought his eyebrows together in a complex expression. As if something worried him. "Do you have to tell other vampires about me? I mean like, reporting me to the VSB? That's what it's called, right?"

"Unfortunately." Not that it would do other vampires any good. Fernando would give Noel up over his cold, maggot-ridden corpse.

"Then I'm saying this right now: You're the only vampire I'm willing to be a mate for. I don't care what kind of argument they bring to the table, the only one I want is you."

A dark, possessive thrill raced through him. To hear that Noel desired only himself was, well, a fantasy realized. He felt his heart race, a new wave of joy and desire slamming into him with all the subtlety of a wrecking ball.

This perfect man wanted to be only his. Fernando would make damn sure that happened.

"I promise you"—he stroked fingers along Noel's bottom lip and heard his little intake of breath—"no one else will have you."

Noel kissed his fingers, a tender gesture Fernando wished he'd repeat over and over. Fucking hell, he wanted to give Noel the pleasure he deserved, but his young lover needed space to process before they could take things further.

Noel whined as he withdrew his fingers, but Fernando kissed his lips instead before pulling back. "I've given you enough to think about, so relax, and allow me to care for and pamper you tonight."

Fernando vowed then and there that Noel would want for nothing the rest of his life.