Lynn Hagen Christian's Coven 3 Eli's Way

Christian’s Coven 3

Eli’s Way

Eli was whipped and bitten until he no longer resembled a human being.
He wakes to a world of vampires he never knew existed and a society he
isn't sure he's cut out to live in. He fights his new life, refusing to feed
and refusing to admit he has feelings for one large vampire.

Jersey, bodyguard for the young prince Yasuko, has finally found his
mate. What should have been a joyous occasion is instead becoming a
hard road to travel. Eli fights him every step of the way until Jersey

and his brother, Buck, show Eli another side to who he has become.

Helping Eli face his new life is only one of the many things Jersey has
challenging him. Mallon, the elder who was responsible for Eli's
kidnapping and torture, refuses to leave Eli alone, coming after him
time and again.

Can Jersey help Eli cope with his new life while keeping the ex-elder
from coming after his mate, or will Jersey lose Eli to his insecurities
and the crazy Mallon?

Genre: Alternative (M/M or F/F), Paranormal,
Vampires/Werewolves Length: 37,766 words

ELI’S WAY

Christian’s Coven 3

Lynn Hagen

EVERLASTING CLASSIC

MANLOVE

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ELI’S WAY

Christian’s Coven 3

LYNN HAGEN

Chapter One

Jersey roared as his fist hit the concrete wall, indignation filling him as his

blood boiled over. He had been so close to catching Mallon, the sadistic elder

who now had a price on his head.

The same elder who had participated in and allowed the torture of his mate.

Jersey had found out from Eli that it might have been the ghouls who had

bitten his mate until his flesh resembled chewed meat. Which was horrific
enough, but it had been Mallon who had whipped every inch of Eli’s body out
of pure sadistic pleasure. He wanted that bastard dead yesterday.

“How the hell does he keep getting away?” Christo, the prince’s

second-in-command, asked in frustration.

Twirling the serrated knife in his hand, Jersey sheathed it as he turned

toward Christo. “Take me to my mate,” he said as he glanced around the
cavernous room. “Fuck Mallon. He’ll slip up, and when he does, I’ll be there to
cut his fucking head off.”

Christo grimaced as he disseminated them back to the club, straight into

Christian’s office. Jersey didn’t care how graphic his words were. The bastard
was dead when he got a hold of him. He quickly crossed the room, taking a seat

on the floor next to the couch where Eli slept. His mate did a lot of sleeping
since being found in Mallon’s home, broken and near death.

Christian told him that Eli had suffered greatly, and although the vampiric

blood in him was healing Jersey’s mate, Eli needed time. Jersey would give
him that and more.

His mate looked so peaceful lying there with his eyes closed and his lips

slightly parted. Jersey had been afraid to move him to the manor. He felt it best
to have Jimmy, Eli’s best friend, around when Eli woke because Jersey hadn’t a
clue what to do once that happened. Besides, Eli looked too content lying there,

and Jersey didn’t want to disturb him.

“I’ll leave you two alone,” Christo said as he quietly closed the office door

behind him.

Jersey ran his hands over Eli’s soft brown hair, wishing his mate was awake

and talking. He had listened closely as Eli talked for the few minutes he was

awake shortly after his conversion, but his voice had been gravelly and rough.

His heart began to pound harder behind his ribs when Eli’s eyes fluttered

and then his head turned. Eli was looking Jersey directly in his eyes.

Jersey couldn’t breathe.
His mate’s eyes were stunning as he lay there watching Jersey. The hazel

green roamed over Jersey’s body and then locked onto Jersey’s eyes.

“Hi,” he said lamely as he fought for something intelligent to say. Eli said

nothing in return as his eyes began to roam around the room. He looked lost

and confused as his eyes finally settled on Jersey once more. Licking his lips,
Eli’s brows drew together in a questioning gesture.

“Who are you?” he whispered, his voice still not up to par.
Jersey’s thumb traced the shell of Eli’s ear as he offered Eli a gentle smile.

“Jersey.” God, his mate was unbelievably gorgeous, even in his current
condition. “Just rest,” he tacked on.

Eli swallowed a few times, tears glistening in his eyes. “Those men…”
Jersey had to bite back the growl that threatened to rip from his chest. It

wouldn’t do any good to scare his mate right now, but the thought of anyone
harming his mate made him feel violent. “Those men can’t hurt you anymore,
Eli.” He would make damn sure that Mallon never came near Eli again.

No one was getting near Eli. His brother, Buck, had been in to check on Eli

a few times, along with Jimmy and Nija, but Jersey wouldn’t allow anyone else
to see his mate.

Well, except for the prince and his mates, but they didn’t count. They were

in a strange class all by themselves. Jersey leaned in closer, carefully checking
Eli’s wounds, seeing that they were slowly healing.

It wasn’t the outside wounds that Jersey worried about, but the mental

screw Mallon and those ghouls put Eli through that worried him most. Those

were the scars that would take the longest to heal.

“You’re healing,” Jersey said for conversation as he pulled Eli’s shirt back

into place. He felt a little odd talking to someone he’d never met before about

something as personal as his wounds.

Eli nodded, glancing over at Jersey. He had hesitation in his eyes, as if he

wanted to ask Jersey something but was afraid to. Jersey caught on quick.

There was only one thing Eli could want right now. “Thirsty?”

Jersey watched as Eli’s tongue flicked out. The pink appendage flowed

across his bottom lip as he nodded. Standing, Jersey lifted his mate up gently,

settling Eli on his lap as he sat on the couch and tilted his head to the side,
baring his neck. “Bite me.”

Eli’s eyes widened as he shrank back in Jersey’s arms, shaking his head

rapidly back and forth. Jersey rolled his eyes, tapping his fingers over his
jugular vein. “Right there, go on, you won’t hurt me.”

“I–I can’t bite you.”

Jersey snorted as a chuckle fell from his lips. “You had no problem when

you were turned.” Eli had tried to drink Jersey dry when he first woke up after
his conversion. It was the best moment of his life. To be able to feed one’s mate

was something vampires prided themselves on. It was an honor among his race.
He knew his mate wouldn’t remember feeding from him. Eli was too out of it at
the time.

Eli’s brows pulled down into a frown as he looked up at Jersey in

confusion. He could understand that Eli knew nothing about the vampire world,

and Jersey felt honored to teach his mate everything he needed to know.
“Turned?”

Oh crap. He wanted to teach Eli, but now wasn’t the time. His mate needed

to feed first before he wigged out. Jersey was hoping to wait for that disaster
until his mate was well fed. That way if Eli freaked out, at least he’d be full.

There was nothing worse than freaking out on an empty stomach.
Jersey ignored his mate’s one-word question as he tapped at his vein again

in an attempt to get Eli to feed. The more often his mate fed, the quicker his
wounds would heal. Jersey honestly didn’t care that Eli held the marks of being
attacked, but his mate might care what other people thought of him.

The marks were visible, running the course of his body, including down his

arms and around his neck and face. Jersey didn’t want anyone staring at his
mate as if he were a freak. “Bite me.”

“I’m not sure if I should bite you or if you’re insulting me,” Eli stated

matter-of-factly, which only made his mate’s resistance all the more comical as
Jersey boomed with laughter. He hoped that was Eli’s true personality coming
out because the guy was funny.

“Believe me, I’m not insulting you.” He guessed he’d hesitate as well if,

after being tortured, he woke in a strange place to a stranger telling him to bite

me. Jersey fished around in his pocket, flipping his phone open and dialing

Nija.

“I need your mate in here,” he said and then hung up. Maybe Eli’s best

friend, Jimmy, could help his mate feel a little more comfortable about his new
surroundings and feeding. Although Jersey didn’t like the fact that he needed
help with his mate.

“Coming in,” Jimmy shouted from the other side of the door but didn’t

attempt to open it. Jersey rolled his eyes. Like he was fucking Eli as soon as he

woke up.

Not even he was that crass, although his cock had other ideas about what it

should be doing right now with Eli sitting square on his lap as his tight little ass

wiggled around. He tried not to think about it, he really did, but Eli was making

it hard not to.

He was making it hard, period.
Jersey waited. When Jimmy didn’t enter, he shouted, “Get your ass in

here.”

Jimmy opened the door, peeking his head in and looking over at the couch.

When he saw that Jersey and Eli were still dressed, he walked in with a huge
smile on his face. “You rang?”

“Jimmy?” Eli said in shock and then wiggled some more. Jersey was going

to come in his pants if his mate didn’t sit the fuck still. “What are you doing
here?” he asked as he quickly leapt from Jersey’s lap and took a seat next to
him.

Damn it. His cock was quite content at where Eli had been sitting, even if

the wiggling had been driving him nuts.

“You’re awake,” Jimmy said as he grinned, stopping short in front of the

couch. “You had me worried, man.”

Eli looked from Jimmy to Jersey, scooting a few more inches from Jersey

as he looked at Jimmy nervously. “Where am I?”

“Well, now, that’s a very long story,” Jimmy replied as he pointed both

index fingers at Eli and then glanced at Jersey. “One I think someone else
should explain to you.”

Jersey gave a low growl, jerking his head toward Eli. Jimmy threw his

hands up, shaking his head. “No way. He may be my best friend, but he’s your
mate. I’ve seen him pissed. Let him kick your ass.”

Jersey leaned his head back, running his hand down his face as he let out a

sigh. He knew Jimmy was right, but he still wanted to kick his skinny ass for

putting him on the spot.

He wanted to be the one to tell Eli, but in his mate’s eyes, he was a

stranger.

Jersey wasn’t too sure how well it would go over to tell Eli he was a

vampire now. He knew the man didn’t remember much from the first time he
was awake. The feeding had taken front seat and driven any other questions out
of Eli’s head. But now his mate would have a clear mind.

Clear enough to ask questions before he fed.
“He’s cool, Eli. Jersey will explain everything to you. And if you need me,

I’m right down the hall,” Jimmy said as he winked at Jersey and then
practically ran from the room, slamming the door behind him.

Jersey glanced over at his mate to see Eli eyeing him suspiciously. He felt

as though he was about to tell the guy he was being sacrificed to a den of lions.

Which was odd since Jersey loved being a vampire, even though he was only a

half-breed.

“You’re a vampire,” he blurted out and then tapped his neck again. “Now

bite me.”

Eli jumped from the couch, backing away as his head snapped around and

his eyes looked as though they were going to pop from his head. “I’m a what?”

“Vein drainer, now bite me.” Geez, how hard was he going to make

feeding? They didn’t need to go into an in-depth conversation until Eli fed and
Jersey fucked him until his name was permanently stuck on Eli’s lips.

What was so complicated about that?

Eli shot to the door, snatching it open so roughly that it smacked against the

wall and bounced back, hitting Eli on his ass. That didn’t stop his mate or even
slow him down as Eli raced out of the office.

“Fuck!” Jersey shouted as he jumped from the couch and gave chase.
He didn’t want anyone near Eli until he claimed him, and not even after

that. Okay, Jersey was a little possessive, so damn what? He never claimed to

be right in the head.

Jersey growled when he lost sight of his mate in the throng of bodies

writhing on the dance floor. With the laser lights bouncing everywhere and the

lighting low, Jersey had to concentrate to find Eli. He could see well in the

dark, but with this many people, he had to take extra time.

Fuck it.

Jersey began to knock people out of his way, bowling some over as he

looked for his mate. He spotted Eli racing for the front door, forcing his way

through the throng of humans. Jersey roared as he pushed everyone in his path

away from him. He lifted his hand, pointing to Eli and then shaking his head at

Harley.

The door mind scrubber and bouncer looked his way and gave a nod right

before he stepped into Eli’s path, placing a hand on Eli’s shoulder and shaking
his head.

Okay, even though he told Harley to stop Eli from leaving, he was going to

kick the guy’s ass for touching Eli. Humans ran away from Jersey as he stalked
toward the front door, determination filling him as he saw Eli look around with

a terrified expression on his face. Even Harley backed away from Jersey, but

not enough to allow Eli to pass.

“Mine!” Jersey roared so loudly that his voice drowned out the club music.

People stopped dancing to watch the large vampire go after his mate as if it
were some sort of hypnotic dance that they couldn’t take their eyes off of.
Jersey approached Eli, gently grabbing his mate around his waist and hauling

him off of his feet.

“Whoa,” Jimmy said as he ran over to the door. “Calm down, big guy.”
“Mine!” Jersey roared again as he looked around at anyone who just might

be stupid enough to challenge his claim. His chest was heaving as he felt his

eyes shift to a deep crimson.

His mate had tried to run, and that only made Jersey’s protective instincts

kick in stronger. Nobody, not even Eli himself, was going to take his mate from

him.

“What do I do?” Eli asked Jimmy as he held tightly to Jersey’s arm. Jersey

knew he was overreacting, but he couldn’t find it in himself to calm down at
this very moment. “What the hell is he going to do to me?”

“No sudden moves,” Jimmy warned as he scratched his head and then

shrugged. “Just go limp in his arms or something. Curl into the fetal position if
you can. He won’t hurt you.”

“How the hell do you know that?” Eli shouted as he pointed up at Jersey.

“Do you see him?”

Jersey gave a low growl in Jimmy’s direction, which made the guy’s mate,

Nija, hiss, his fangs bared and ready for business as he pushed Jimmy behind
him. “Calm down or I swear I’m going to fuck you up,” Nija threatened.

Jersey began to calm when he felt Eli calm down. He knew it was Nija’s

presence that was making Eli relax and he didn’t like it. The two had some
strange bond for the simple fact that it was Nija who had converted Eli, but he
still didn’t have to like it. Jersey wanted that bond with his mate. Maybe it was
jealousy, but he didn’t really care at the moment.

Pulling his mate closer to his chest, Jersey glanced around the club. He saw

Christian standing on the second-floor balcony, watching the scene below, a

slight smirk on his face. Jersey blinked a few times, trying his best to rein in his

anger.

The last thing he needed was to get kicked out of the coven for acting like a

total caveman and have no protection for his mate.

He wasn’t sure if he had harmed any humans in his desperation and anger,

but he knew Christian wasn’t going to allow anyone to be hurt while they were
here partying in his club.

“I have this,” Buck, Jersey’s brother, said as he pushed the crowd away.

“Come on, little bro. Let’s get your mate in the office and away from
everyone.”

Jersey growled. He hated when Buck talked to him like he was a little kid.

He was a pissed-off vampire, not a five-year-old throwing a tantrum. Jersey

glanced around one last time before following his brother, holding Eli tight as

he walked back down the hallway.

“Go have a seat. It seems your mate needs things explained to him,” Buck

said as soon as they cleared the doorway to the office.

Jersey took a seat on the couch, feeling his common sense slowly return.

Buck moved into the room as Nija and Jimmy entered, Christian, along with his

mates, coming in lastly and closing the door behind them.

Jersey’s charge, Yasuko, carried his son over to the desk and took a seat,

Minsheng taking a stance behind him as Christian leaned against the desk,

placing himself between the room and his mates.

“Trust me, I don’t need intervention,” Jersey said to the room as he held Eli

close. “I’m cool. I just got a little psycho, but I’m much better now.”

Buck snorted as he tossed a hand toward Eli. “Then why is your mate

turning red?”

Jersey quickly loosened his grip, cursing himself and his strength. Eli

struggled to get free, but Jersey only loosened his hold slightly. His mate
wasn’t getting another chance to run anywhere.

“You were kidnapped and tortured, Eli,” Christian started. Jersey wanted to

cover his mate’s ears and spare Eli the sordid details, but he knew in order for
his mate to heal from the inside, he needed to face everything that had

happened to him. As much as he wanted to protect his mate, the details of the
event needed to be relived. “You were very close to death so the decision was
made to convert you.”

“By who?” Eli said angrily as he pushed at Jersey’s arms. “I didn’t ask for

this.”

“I decided,” Jimmy answered as he stepped forward, a grim determination

in his eyes. “You are my best friend, and I wasn’t going to lose you.”

“You’re one of them?” Eli asked incredulously as he stopped fighting to get

free and just sat there in Jersey’s arms.

Jimmy nodded. “Yep, and so are you. I’m sorry I took the choice from you,

but I wasn’t going to lose my best friend.”

“You had no right!” Eli shouted at Jimmy. “This isn’t normal. You should

have let me die!”

“Would you have let me die?” Jimmy shouted back as he stabbed a finger

at his chest and then pointed it close to Eli. “No, you would have done
whatever it took to save me. I know you, Eli, so don’t lie to me.”

Eli grew silent as he sulked in Jersey’s lap. Jersey ran his hand up Eli’s

back, cupping the nape of his mate’s neck as he fought the growl. He didn’t like
anyone talking to his mate like that, best friend or not.

“You are a part of our coven now, under our protection,” Christian stated.

“Welcome, Eli.”

“Thank you,” Eli replied begrudgingly.
Jersey was relieved that his mate hadn’t cursed the prince out. He might not

be right in the head, but even Jersey wasn’t that brave or psychotic to disrespect
the prince. He gave his mate’s nape a light squeeze, trying his best to reassure
him that everything was going to be okay.

“I don’t understand any of this,” Eli confessed.
“You will. Let Jersey show you the ways of our people,” Christian said as

he stood, his mates following suit. Yasuko gave Jersey a small wave as he

carried his son, Minzhe, from the room, his mates close at his side.

Nija and Jimmy stayed behind as Jimmy looked over at Eli sadly. “I’m

sorry you hate me for this, but it was my call, and I chose to keep you around in
my life for a little while longer.”

Eli sighed as he glanced up at Jimmy. “I don’t hate you. I’m just confused.”
“If you need me, I’m bartending.”
This made Eli smile. “Just can’t stay away from that profession, can you?”
Jimmy chuckled as he shook his head. “I guess not.” Jimmy and his mate

left the office, leaving Jersey as the only one to talk to Eli now. He felt slightly

awkward after his outburst and the way he had handled Eli running from him.
Jersey wasn’t sure what to say, but he knew Eli needed answers.

* * * *

Staring at the door that his best friend had just walked out of, Eli sat there

nervous as hell at being left alone with the large vampire. He was slightly
intimidated that he was sitting on a vampire’s lap, but what made him really
nervous was the fact that the man was making every dark desire in him rear its

ugly head.

He had kept those desires hidden from the public eye, but Jersey was

making Eli wish for things he knew he could never have.

Bad things, perverse things.

Things his father would kill Eli over if he ever found out.

He glanced around the lavish office, trying his best to get his thundering

heart back under control. He wasn’t supposed to like sitting on the man’s lap,
any man’s lap for that matter. Eli knew this, but his cock had a mind of its own
as it stood up and took notice.

He tried to clear his throat, but a tight feeling was clawing its way up and

wrapping around his esophagus, making it hard to breathe. He was thirsty as
hell, but wasn’t sure what he was thirsty for. Well, since he was a vampire, it
had to be blood, and that just grossed him out completely.

“Are you thirsty?” Jersey stole the thoughts from Eli as the large hand

stayed clamped on Eli’s neck. Was he afraid Eli would take off again? The
thought had crossed his mind to run from this madness, but to where? It wasn’t
like he could go home again. And didn’t that just mess with his head?

“My parents,” Eli said aloud. How was he going to explain all of this to his

mother and father? Was he allowed to see them again? “Am I banned from
them now?”

“No,” Jersey answered as his fingers lazily played over Eli’s neck, making

his cock grow by leaps and bounds. “But you can only visit them when it’s dark
out, and you can’t allow your fangs to show.”

Eli nodded. At least he was allowed to still visit them. Sadness washed over

him as he sat there. His life had taken a bizarre turn, and he wasn’t sure where
he fit into it anymore. He had had a life, a job, and a family. Now he

had…nothing.

“Do you mind if I lie down?” he asked Jersey. He wasn’t even sure where

he lived now. He was quite certain he wouldn’t be allowed to go back to his
apartment.

Jersey scooted over, lifting Eli from his lap and laying him on the couch,

situating Eli’s head on the vampire’s lap. He didn’t argue. Eli didn’t have the
energy to argue right now. He was so damn tired. Even his erection started to

diminish.

“Rest. I won’t leave you.”
And that was what Eli was afraid of. He was in the closet, afraid to step out

and announce his preference for men. He had a feeling Jersey was going to

blow the door right off of the hinges, shedding light on his depravities. His

father had bashed gay men, talking about them as if they were all perverted
sluts, the devil’s creation.

Eli closed his eyes. He’d worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. Right now he

was being pulled into slumber. He yawned and then turned over, curling up as

he rested his eyes. He wanted Jersey to think he was asleep so he would have

time to try and sort it all out in his head, but the longer he lay there, the more

confusing his life seemed.

What was he going to do about a job now? He couldn’t be out in daylight.

Could he? Eli realized he knew nothing about his new life. Could he eat garlic?

Would holy water burn him? Would the sun make him burst into flames? Could

he convert people by biting them?

He didn’t even want to think about biting someone.
Eli was getting a headache the longer he thought about his new life, so he

just shut his brain down as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Two

Jersey pushed aside the throng of humans as he barreled his way through

the club, walking behind his mate as the short man made his way toward the
bar. He didn’t like the fact that Eli was out in the public, but he couldn’t hold
him prisoner.

Well, he could but…
“Get that away from me.” Eli scowled at the cup of blood in Jersey’s hand.

“I’m not drinking it.”

Jersey grabbed the glass in time before it tumbled from his hands. He was

getting really tired of Eli knocking the wineglass from his hand every time he

tried to give him one.

He was also starting to get worried. With his mate refusing to feed, his skin

was gaunt and sunken looking. It had a wan appearance that should be

beautiful, but his lack of blood robbed him of that. He looked more gray than

white.

And that was only compounded with the fact that his mate had multiple bite

wounds and whip marks all over his body that refused to heal from his attack
because Eli wouldn’t feed. Jersey was at his wit’s end. “If you don’t drink,
you’ll eventually die, Eli.”

“That’s better than living like a freak!” Eli shot back, venom lacing his

words as he scowled at Jersey. “I didn’t ask for this. You should have let me
die in the first place. I’m a vampire now. What kind of bullshit is that?”

Jersey sat the glass down carefully on the bar as he counted to ten. It

seemed like no matter what he said to Eli, the man wouldn’t listen to reason. It
was like he had a hard-on for death or something. The ghouls had broken

various parts of his body, bit damn near every inch of his flesh, and then Eli

was whipped like he was an out-of-control dog, left for dead in that cavern, but

his mate had survived. That was what Eli needed to focus on.

He was fucking alive.
“If you don’t drink this, I’m going to tape your ass down and stick a damn

IV in you.” To hell with Eli’s wishes. Jersey was not about to lose his mate.
Being alone sucked, and he refused to be alone just because his mate rejected

his new life.

“Give me a damn whiskey,” Eli shouted as he slapped the bar with the

palm of his hand. Winston, the bartender, cocked his brow at Jersey. Fine,

since his mate wanted to learn the hard way. Jersey nodded toward Winston.

“Don’t look at him for approval. I’m my own man. Give me the damn

drink,” Eli shot at Winston after cutting his hazel eyes at Jersey.

Jersey counted to twenty, breathing out slowly as Winston bristled at Eli’s

indignant tone. If he didn’t get his mate to stop snapping and growling at
everyone who came near him, the coven was going to hang him by his balls out

in the sun to teach him a lesson.

Not really, but they sure would be pissed. He didn’t want his mate’s new

life to start out by Jersey saving Eli from a mob of angry vampires. He was

large and tough, but not even Jersey could take on an entire coven.

Eli downed the whiskey and then spewed it across the bar, missing

Winston but spraying Vincent.

“Fucking hum—” Vincent cut his words short as he glared at Eli. The

vampire knew if he stepped a toe out of line that Christian would annihilate

him. The vampire had caused so many problems with Nija and Jimmy and

thought humans were nothing more than a herd of blood donors. This was his

last chance before Christian dealt him a death hand. Vincent wiped down the

front of his shirt with a bar rag as he mumbled quietly to himself. Jersey did

feel bad for what his mate had done, but he ignored Vincent as he looked over

at his mate with narrowed eyes.

“What the hell are you doing, Eli?” Jimmy asked as he walked behind the

bar. “You can’t drink that crap anymore.”

That wasn’t entirely true. A vampire could acquire a taste for other things

to drink along with blood, but it took years and Eli was newly converted.

So whiskey was out of the question.

Eli slammed the glass tumbler down onto the worn wood as he glared at

each man separately and then locked eyes with Jersey. “What the fuck can I
do?”

Oh, that was one hell of a loaded question if Jersey had ever heard one.

There were plenty of comebacks floating around in his skull, but he refrained

from ticking the list off. Some were erotic as hell while others weren’t so damn

polite.

“If you stopped fighting your new life so much and drank some crimson,

you’d feel a hell of a lot better,” Jimmy said as he slid a wineglass of blood
toward Eli. Jersey wasn’t too sure about his mate drinking the crimson Jimmy
made. The guy was newly converted himself, and although he used to be a

bartender, mixing crimson was tricky.

So far half the coven ran from Jimmy every time he made a glass. It was

that bad. He had to give Jimmy credit, though. He kept on trying.

Jersey just wished Eli would try a little harder at acclimating to his new

life.

“I told you that I’m not drinking that shit,” Eli blustered as he knocked the

glass over, the red liquid spreading across the bar and then beginning to drip
onto the floor. “Fuck vampires, fuck ghouls, and fuck the entire world!”

Jersey growled low, counting to thirty as he bent at the waist and picked Eli

up, tossing the man over his shoulder as he walked toward Christian’s office.

He had to get his mate out of there before someone pulverized Eli, and then

Jersey would have to kill whoever pulverized his mate. It was a sticky situation

dealing with Eli.

“Put me down, you big brute!”
Jersey smacked Eli across one lone butt cheek as he entered Christian’s

office. “I’m sorry I smacked you, but you left me no choice,” Jersey pointed out
as he set his mate on his feet and then closed the office door. “Now, am I going
to have to smack your bottom again, or are you going to act like you have some
damn sense?”

Eli shot him a challenging glare as he fisted his hands at his sides. “I

double-dog dare you to even think about smacking anything on me again!”

Jersey ran his hands over his hair, ready to pull each and every strand out as

he wondered what to do with his willful mate. It was like trying to pull teeth

from a damn lion. How could he make Eli see things differently? The man saw

the world his way and refused to even consider any other option.

Eli was still thinking like a human. If he didn’t embrace his new life soon,

Eli was going to wither away. Jersey felt powerless at the moment, something
he wasn’t used to.

He counted to forty and then took a deep and cleansing breath. “Fine, don’t

drink the crimson, don’t watch how you treat others, and don’t bother calling
for me when you’re too weak to hold your own damn dick to take a piss,”
Jersey bellowed as he stormed back out of Christian’s office, slamming the
door so hard behind him that the walls rattled.

Jersey turned, punching his fist into the wall, and then leaned his head

against it, wishing his mate wasn’t acting like a…a man who had gone through
something horrific.

He sighed, realizing that he was only adding to Eli’s situation with his

temper. This whole situation was fucked, and Jersey wasn’t making it any

easier on his mate. No matter how much Eli fought him, he knew his mate was

being combative from fear. He needed to have a little more patience with the

guy.

Cracking the door open, Jersey ducked his head in to see Eli balled up on

the couch, his face buried in his hands. Now didn’t he feel like a grand bastard?
Jersey pushed the door open and stepped into the office, leaning against the

door as he closed it softly.

He watched Eli for a long time, but his mate never looked up to

acknowledge that he was aware that Jersey was standing there. He stared down

at the floor, confused as he wondered what he should do.

Eli had been nothing but prickly ever since he was told that he was now a

vampire and had to drink blood. His mate reluctantly drank from him when he

was first told by Christian that he was a vampire. That only made two times
that Eli had drunk from him, and Jersey wasn’t sure how to get him to feed
regularly.

Jersey crossed the room, taking a seat on the couch next to Eli’s curled

form. He wanted to reach out, but he wasn’t sure how receptive his mate
would be.

“It’s not like I’m trying to be a prick,” Eli whispered, sounding wounded

and lost. Jersey wasn’t sure what to say to that. Somehow you’ve been a total
dick didn’t sound right in his own head. He kept forgetting to take into account

everything that Eli had been through.

Jersey’s emotions rode him strong every time Eli bristled. His defenses

went up, and Jersey was ready to fight. But fighting his mate wasn’t going to

win him a damn thing except a lonely bed and heart.

Reaching over, Jersey picked Eli up and sat him in his lap as he wrapped

his arms around his mate. He exhaled loudly as he tucked Eli’s head under his
chin. “I have no idea what you went through,” he started. “All I see are the
scars that were left behind. I’m here to help you in any way I can, but fighting
me on this isn’t going to solve anything.”

Eli nodded his head. “I’m scared. I don’t know anything about being a

vampire, about this life.”

That was the first time his mate had let his guard down, allowing Jersey to

see some small part of his pain. “Then let me show you. Can you do that?”

Eli took a deep breath and then let it out, almost as if he were

contemplating his answer. He shrugged his shoulders as he fiddled with his
hands in his lap. “Can I drink from you? I don’t like drinking unknown blood
from that cup.”

Fuck yeah!

Jersey cleared his throat, trying not to sound too excited. He was just being

asked to be a donor, not rock Eli’s world. Besides, his mate was vulnerable
right now, and Jersey wasn’t going to take advantage of that.

“If that’s what you want,” he said, trying his best to downplay his

anticipation of Eli drinking from him.

God, his cock was getting hard just thinking about Eli sucking blood from

his vein. He reminded himself once again that Eli wasn’t ready for anything
more, but he couldn’t help the reaction of his body. Eli wiggled around, making
Jersey forget what he had just been thinking.

Could they have sex while Eli drank from him? It was on the tip of his

tongue to ask, but Jersey didn’t want to push his mate too far.

They were making progress.

No need to scare the hell out of him.
He had all the time in the world to explore Eli’s short, compact body once

his mate accepted him and his new life. Right now it was about getting his mate

to heal his wounds properly.

When Eli didn’t move any closer to his neck, Jersey took matters into his

own hands and pulled his mate up his chest, tilting his head at the same time.
He pressed his hand into the back of Eli’s head, coaxing him to move in closer.

Jersey shuddered when Eli’s soft lips grazed his skin, skimming over his

neck, teasing it slowly. He knew Eli wasn’t doing it on purpose, but his cock
didn’t know the difference. He was dying to tear their clothes off and bury his
dick deeply into Eli’s ass, but Jersey held back, waiting to see what Eli would
do next.

If his mate gave the green light, Jersey wasn’t going to hesitate at ripping

his clothes off and fucking him into unconsciousness.

“I can’t,” Eli said as he began to pull away.
“Just bite, don’t think,” Jersey instructed his mate, pressing Eli’s head

closer to his neck. He was about to explode just from the anticipation alone. His

cock was throbbing painfully, waiting, wanting, praying.

He shivered when Eli’s fangs scraped his neck, but they didn’t sink in.

Jersey was about to go nuts. “Bite me,” he said as he swallowed hard. “Just
bite me.”

* * * *

Eli tried his best to shut his brain down.
Just bite, don’t think.
That was easier said than done. He inhaled deeply, taking in the masculine

scent, and then pressed his fangs into Jersey’s neck, feeling the warmth of the
vampire’s blood as it splashed into his mouth.

The hunger that had been clawing its way inside of him roared to life as he

drank greedily.

Eli couldn’t seem to get enough.
He feared the metallic taste would return, but the blood pouring from

Jersey’s neck was sweet and addictive, tasting like the sweetest wine. Eli began
to gag as the blood became too much. He was drinking way too fast, but Eli
couldn’t seem to help himself. He was starving, and Jersey’s blood was what
his body had been craving. The more he drank, the less his stomach hurt.

“Slow down. It’s not going anywhere,” Jersey said raggedly as his hand

pressed harder into the back of Eli’s head. “Take your time.”

Eli breathed through his nose as he swallowed what was in his mouth and

then began to take slower, smaller drafts. The perfect, sweet muskiness of
Jersey’s skin was intoxicating. Eli no longer thought about the aspect of
drinking as much as he was focusing on his raging hard-on.

He’d give anything to have Jersey fuck him senseless right about now. But

he couldn’t think like that. Those were dark thoughts that needed to stay in the
closet. He usually snuck to have his desires sated, but Jimmy was in the club.
He didn’t want his best friend to know how depraved he truly was.

Eli knew Jimmy was gay, but that didn’t count. Jimmy had been his best

friend since forever and he didn’t look at the man any differently.

He, on the other hand, had a father who had made it quite clear that gay

men were perverts and devils. Eli couldn’t help but feel that way as he sat in
Jersey’s lap.

Eli wasn’t blind. He could see other male couples around, but he was so

used to hiding his needs that it was hard to just let go.

He pulled his groin slightly away, not wanting Jersey to feel how the

feeding was affecting him. He placed the palms of his hands on Jersey’s chest,

keeping their bodies inches apart as he swallowed the sweet-tasting blood.

Eli wanted to groan when Jersey placed his free hand on his bottom, but

moaning would be wrong. When Eli felt one of Jersey’s fingers smooth over
his skin just above his waistband, he yanked his fangs free, breathing hard and

fast.

“Shit, lick the wound closed before I bleed to death,” Jersey shouted as his

hand swung up to his neck, blood pouring from between his fingers.

Eli’s eyes widened as he leaned forward just as Jersey moved his hand

aside. His tongue lapped over the wound repeatedly until he saw the blood slow

to a trickle and then stop altogether. He sat there stunned at what he had just

done.

“You can’t yank away like that, Eli. You could have torn my damn jugular

out.”

Eli pushed away from Jersey, sitting on the side of the couch as he pulled

his legs close to his body from embarrassment and to hide his erection. “I’m
sorry.”

Jersey confused him. The man looked very powerful, his chest broad and

muscular. He was a massive, self-confident presence that made Eli’s deepest

desires spring forth.

What confused Eli the most was this place. Wherever he was, the people, or

vampires, didn’t seem to care that Jersey was all over him. It seemed to cater to
a person’s dark and depraved side. It was as if the people who came here

encouraged such behavior.

Eli had never seen so many half-naked men sweating all over each other

before, and that was only on the dance floor. He could just imagine what was

happening in some back room or alleyway.

“I, uh, thanks,” he stuttered out as he looked around the plush office. He’d

given in to his depraved side a few times, all of them being one-night stands.

Hookups.

Back alley fucks.

His dad was well-known in the community, and Eli had always been

terrified that someone would see him and squeal to his father. Eli hated the

prejudice his father carried about gay men, but his dad had always been good to

him, treating him and his mother kindly. He felt like he was letting his dad

down every time he sought some stranger out.

Did it really matter now? He was now a vampire, a creature of the night.

But somehow it did bother him. Maybe from all the years of creeping around, it

was now instilled in him to hide who he really was.

“You should drink more, Eli. It’ll help strengthen you and heal your scars

quicker.”

Eli nodded, looking down at his shoes that were on the couch. “I’ll try,” he

said as he thought about home. He needed to get to his apartment and gather

some things.

Was he homeless now? Where was he going to sleep? His stomach dropped

when he thought of all the movies he had seen in the past about vampires. Was

he going to have to sleep in a coffin?

The thought made him shudder. There was no way Eli was climbing into a

damn coffin. He might be a vampire now, but there were certain things he was
not doing, and lying in a pine box was one of them. He didn’t care how fancy it
looked.

“I’m a bit hungry,” Jersey said as he stood, trailing his fingers over his flat

stomach. Eli tensed, wondering if Jersey was going to drain him, as big as the

guy was. His hand automatically fluttered to his neck, wondering how painful

this was going to be.

He couldn’t exactly tell Jersey no after he had offered himself as dinner. Eli

might be confused and acting like an ass because he was scared, but he wasn’t a

jerk.

If Jersey needed to feed, Eli would find the courage to allow him. He just

prayed Jersey left him with an ounce of blood afterward.

Jersey’s laughter filled the office as he held out his hand. “I’m not gonna

drink from you. I was thinking more along the lines of a fish sandwich.”

Eli was hopelessly confused now. Fish? Since when did vampires eat fish?
“Don’t look so confused,” Jersey said as he reached out and grabbed Eli’s

hand, which was curled into a fist and resting on his knee. “I’m half-human so I
can eat food. But I don’t go around announcing that. It would mess with my
badass persona.”

Eli nodded as he stood, not understanding a damn thing that Jersey just

said.

He followed Jersey out of the office, out into the club where a throng of

bodies were gyrating against one another, male-female, male-male,

female-female, and some were just one big ass group.

Eli was mesmerized by the sight. He never really saw people openly

showing their wants and needs for the public to witness. He stood there for a

moment watching as two men groped each other, damn near fucking on the

dance floor.

Jersey stopped and then walked back, grabbing Eli by the hand as he

pushed through the crowd, knocking some people aside as he mumbled
something about getting out of his mate’s way.

They ended up on the other side of the club and in another hallway. This

club sure had plenty of hallways. Only this one didn’t seem business-like, not
in the white collar sense. Speaking of collars, Eli saw quite a few people with

them around their necks as they made their way to the back hallway.

Never in his life had he seen so many bizarre things in one place, and it

fascinated him.

“I don’t want you coming down this hallway unless I’m with you,” Jersey

said over his shoulder as he pulled Eli along.

Eli caught a glimpse of one of the rooms when a door suddenly flew open.

His eyes widened when he saw a man hanging in the middle of the room, and

he was naked, angry red marks marring his body.

He quickly looked away, wondering what the hell kind of rabbit hole he

had fallen into.

And Jimmy was a part of this?

Go figure.

He never would have pinned the guy as a pain junkie. Eli worried that

Jersey was going to take him into one of the rooms and have him suspended in

midair.

That was something he didn’t want to experiment with.
“Hey, Vaughn,” Jersey said as he nodded to a man sitting on a stool,

watching the hallway like some sort of monitor.

The guy nodded, eyeing Eli as they walked by.

His palms began to sweat until they reached the back of the hallway and

the large vampire pushed a door open.

They stepped out into the night, Eli breathing in a lungful of fresh air.

Never before had he been so glad to be standing outside. The moon was full

and the clouds were few as he tilted his head back and sighed.

“Come on,” Jersey said as he jerked his head toward the front of the alley.

“Let’s go get some fish.”

“Can I eat that?” Eli asked as he quickened his steps, trying his best to

keep up with the large vampire.

“Sorry, Eli. You’re on a blood diet. I’ll eat it quickly so you won’t miss it

too much.”

“No worries. I didn’t like seafood when I was…” Eli glanced around the

neighborhood they were walking through as he thought about the word to finish

his sentence. It was finally hitting home.

He wasn’t human anymore.
He was a vampire now.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Anything you want to know, ask,” Jersey replied as they made their way

to…wherever there was fish at one in the morning.

“I saw a man come in with a baby in his arms. He was with two other men.

You guys don’t baby snatch, do you?” The thought made Eli sick to his
stomach to think of vampires creeping into someone’s house and stealing
innocent little children from their beds.

If that was what they were into, Eli was going to run fast and hard away

from that strange place. There were lines that he refused to cross, and taking

babes from mothers was one of them.

“Hell, no. That was my buddy, Yasuko. He gave birth to Minzhe.”
Eli’s steps faltered as his brain caught up with Jersey’s words. “He did

what?”

Jersey slowed as he waited for Eli to get his head out of his ass and start

walking. He couldn’t help it. The concept alone was mind-boggling. There was
no way Jersey was telling the truth.

“Since we’re mates, I can tell you. Christian is the original vampire. Any

descendant of his or anyone he mates can get pregnant, male or female. Since

his mates are male, Yasuko was the lucky one.”

Lucky one?

How the hell was a guy being pregnant lucky? Where did he push the

baby…ew. Eli wanted to hold his legs tightly together and pray that wasn’t how

Yasuko had given birth.

“You’re not a descendant, are you?” Please let him say no.
Jersey snorted with laughter as he shook his head. “No. Christian is my

prince, nothing more.”

Thank fuck for small favors.
Eli couldn’t even begin to imagine becoming pregnant. He never wanted

children to begin with, but to carry one himself? He shuddered at the

possibility. Eli had a whole new respect for Yasuko. Better him than I.

Wait, Jersey would be the one getting pregnant if he were a descendant, not

Eli. The thought still made him shudder.

“Here we are,” Jersey announced as they cut a corner. There was a big sign

that read Papa Dock’s ahead of them. It was a small stand, not very large and
only a few tables inside. There were a few tables with benches in front of the

small take-out shack, and that’s where Eli wanted to sit. “My dad owns this

place, a whole chain of them as a matter of fact.”

“So your dad is human?” Eli stabbed at a guess. The only other answer

would be Jersey’s mother.

“Yep, and the best dad in the world. He raised me and Buck, and that

wasn’t an easy task.”

“You have a brother?” Eli asked. What would it have been like to be raised

with a brother? Eli was an only child. He had plenty of aunts and uncles,

cousins as well, but his parents had stopped at him.

It really didn’t bother him that he was an only child since he met Jimmy at

such a young age. The two had become inseparable as kids, which made the

longing to have a sibling nonexistent.

“Yeah, you’ve met him, but haven’t been formally introduced. He was the

big guy who told me to take you to the office when you tried to run from the
club. His name is Buck.”

Eli remembered the guy. Buck was just as big as Jersey. What baffled him

was how casually Jersey was referring to his escape attempt, as if it were no big

deal. Things seemed to roll off of Jersey pretty easily. He didn’t seem to have a

care in the world. He was even openly gay. Eli wished he could have that

confidence. It would make his life so much easier.

Eli envied Jersey for that.
“He’s cool peeps. If you ever have any problems and I’m not around, find

him. Buck would do anything for you.”

“Why?”
“Duh, you’re my mate,” Jersey said as he approached the order window.
“Hey, Jersey,” an older-looking man greeted the vampire. “Usual?”
“Yep,” Jersey replied as he rubbed his stomach. Eli’s eyes followed the

movement, wondering what it would feel like for his hand to rub that flat

abdomen. His eyes snapped up when Jersey grabbed his tray and walked over

to a table.

“What’s a mate?” Eli asked as he watched Jersey pick the superlarge

sandwich up and take a bite. Eli’s eyes widened when he saw half the damn
sandwich disappear. He hadn’t failed to notice the large fangs in Jersey’s mouth
when it was wide open either.

His hand instinctively went to his neck, wondering if he’d have a neck left

if Jersey ever fed from him. His fangs were huge!

“Do you drink blood since you can eat?” Eli asked as he pointed to Jersey’s

tray of food, which was piled high with fast food wrappers and a soda. It would

take Eli an entire year to eat all of that.

“Sure. I just don’t need it as often as you will. But I am a vampire.” Jersey

made slurping sounds as if he were drinking blood. This got a smile out of Eli.

His world might be a crazy mess right now, but Eli had to admit, Jersey

was turning out to be cool and funny. It didn’t hurt that the vampire was
drop-dead gorgeous either.

“So what’s this mate thing?” Eli asked as he picked up a fry, sniffing at it.

He took a tiny bite and then spit the potato out. It tasted like dry sand. Jersey

chuckled as he chewed his food. After he swallowed, he picked up another fry
and waved it in front of Eli’s face.

“Care to try that again?”
Eli scrunched his face as he batted at Jersey’s hand. “No thanks.” He never

liked fast food before his conversion, so the sight of Jersey’s tray hadn’t
bothered him.

Jersey shoved the fry in his mouth and then took a drink of his soda before

he spoke. “A mate, a husband, a partner, all the same thing.”

Eli held on to the small table as his body swayed. “Husband?” he shouted

and then clamped his lips tightly together, looking around to see if anyone had

heard him. Thank goodness it was so late. No one was around.

“Yeah,” he said as he sat his sandwich down. The expression on Jersey’s

face reminded Eli of a kicked puppy. He looked wounded as hell. “You don’t
want to be my mate?”

Eli sat there stuck on stupid. His brain rebelled against the idea, but his

heart was breaking at the sadness in Jersey’s eyes and voice. He felt connected
to the man in some small way, and he didn’t want to see Jersey so heartbroken.
It bothered him. “I don’t even know you.”

A smile replaced Jersey’s frown as he picked his sandwich up. “Then we

need to get to know each other,” Jersey said as he stuck his hand out in front of
him. “Hi, my name is Jersey Iachino.”

Chapter Three

Jersey watched his mate over by the bar. Eli was staring off into the crowd

as the laser lights bounced around the crowd. His mate looked so damn lost.

Jersey wanted to go to him and comfort his mate, but Eli had cut a wide berth

around him lately.

“I hear Christian is going to elect another elder to take Mallon’s place,”

Buck said as he took a seat on the empty stool beside Jersey. The psycho
elder’s name immediately ignited Jersey’s blood pressure, making it shoot
through the roof as he bit back a growl.

He didn’t want to talk about politics or Mallon. He didn’t want to talk to

anyone right now, period. Jersey was too busy keeping his eye on Eli, who was

standing at the end of the bar fidgeting. He looked as though he wanted to join

the crowd, but was too afraid to take that first step.

“Calm down, bro. We’ll find him, and when we do, we’ll teach him about

hurting your mate.”

Jersey nodded. He loved the hell out of Buck and appreciated that he had

Jersey’s back, but his mind wasn’t into the conversation. He pushed away from
the stool, walking down the bar toward Eli. He grabbed his mate’s hand,
pulling him onto the dance floor.

“I don’t dance.” Eli gave a halfhearted protest.
“Then just stand still,” Jersey said as he grabbed Eli’s hips and began to

sway back and forth, lowering his head to nibble at his mate’s intoxicating skin.
His head swam as he inhaled his mate’s scent. It was masculine with a touch of
cologne mixed in. The smell was the perfect combination to get Jersey’s cock
to start lengthening in his pants. His fingers dug into his mate’s side when Eli
stiffened, his head snapping around.

“No one cares, Eli.” Jersey pulled Eli closer, letting their bodies mold

together as the music flooded the club, making Jersey’s body gyrate to its

hypnotic waves.

His cock blossomed further in his pants as Eli’s head fell back against

Jersey’s chest, his body giving in and swaying carelessly back and forth.
Jersey’s grip tightened on his mate as he pulled Eli closer, letting his cock graze
Eli’s ass. He heard a moan over the noise in the club and knew it came from his
mate.

He was dying to take his mate somewhere private and bury his cock deep

into Eli’s ass.

“You like that?” He dipped his head and whispered into Eli’s ear. “You

like when my body rubs up against yours? When my cock caresses your ass?”
Jersey finished his sentence with a small nip on Eli’s neck as he pushed his
hard shaft against Eli and ground it hard into the man’s backside.

He shivered as he rubbed his cock up and down his mate’s body, loving the

contact as his dick pulsed at the erotic action. Their hips swayed from side to
side, Jersey’s hands running up his mate’s sides as he leaned back slightly,
watching Eli’s ass rock back and forth.

All Jersey could think about was fucking the man until they were both

sweating and panting. He noticed his mate’s skin coloring when one of the laser
lights splashed over Eli.

It had been a week since his mate last fed. He was still jumpy as hell when

it came to feeding, so Jersey didn’t push him. He knew that Eli would adjust to
his new life, but he still worried that his mate wasn’t getting enough blood into
his system.

Eli’s hips started swaying on their own, his ass pressing back into Jersey’s

shaft voluntarily. Jersey laid his arms over his mate, locking him in as he

ground his cock hard into Eli. He was so damn horny that he was half tempted

to bend Eli over right here on the dance floor and take him.

No one would care—no one except Eli, of course.

His mate acted as though being gay was a bad thing. Every time he got

close, Eli scooted away. He was shocked that Eli was dancing this erotically

with him now. Whatever had Eli loosened up, Jersey was going to enjoy every

bit of it.

Jersey spun Eli around, inserting a leg between his mate’s. Shockingly, Eli

rode it as Jersey pulled him closer, grabbing his hips as he helped his mate ride

out his pleasure. He was fascinated at the look of pure bliss on Eli’s face. His

head swayed back as his lower half rocked forward. Jersey was determined to

make his mate come right here on his leg.

Jersey pushed his leg forward as Eli slid up the length, his fingers curling

into Jersey’s shirt. Jersey ran his hand over the back waistband of Eli’s pants,
his hand sliding in as he ran his fingers over Eli’s crease. Eli moaned as his
fingers tightened.

Eli was close. Jersey could see it in his eyes. They were glazed and

smoldering.

“You’re sexy when you dance like you want me to fuck you. You have me

hard as hell,” he crooned in his mate’s ear. He slid a hand over Eli’s throat,
letting his fingers caress his soft skin. “I want to drink from you while I fuck
you.”

Maybe he shouldn’t have said the last part because Eli pulled away,

heading straight for the bar.

Jersey stood on the dance floor stunned. He was horny and angry in equal

measures. Even though Eli had said he wanted to get to know Jersey, the man

had ducked and dodged him at every turn, sleeping on the couch in Christian’s

office and refusing to go home with Jersey and the coven.

Vincent was the only one who slept at the club during daylight hours, and

that didn’t set well with Jersey. He hadn’t told Eli, but he had taken a room
upstairs just to stay close. The guy was giving more mixed signals than a

broken streetlight blinking red, amber, and green all at the same time.

And if he jerked off one more time, Jersey was certain he’d jerk his cock

right off.

He had to find a way to lower Eli’s defenses and bond with him. Jersey

didn’t like the indifference and the distance between them. He wanted to be
very close to his mate, sharing a bond that no one could penetrate.

He watched as Shelby approached Eli and began to speak with him. Jersey

wasn’t threatened by the small vampire. He knew Shelby was just out to make
friends. Most of the coven smiled at Shelby, but none ever took their time with

him.

The vampire screamed attention deprivation and showed it, too. Yasuko

had been the only one to befriend the small vampire, but he was busy with his

son and mates now, leaving very little time for Shelby.

Jersey walked off of the dance floor, heading straight for the bar. He wasn’t

sure what he was going to do about his mate, but he was tired of this yo-yo

effect pulling him back and forth, up and down, around and around.

One minute Eli accepted his new life, and the next he acted as though it

were a wretched curse. Jersey was getting a solid headache trying to figure his

mate out.

Turning at the last second, Jersey took the steps two at a time as he headed

upstairs to the second floor. Christian wasn’t in his booth, and neither were his
mates. Jersey took a seat, leaning back and taking a deep breath. He ran his

hands over his face and then he sat forward, watching Eli from the balcony. He

was still hornier than hell after that performance on the dance floor and there
wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it unless he jacked off, and that idea
held no appeal to him whatsoever.

Jersey sat up straighter when he saw Dante Malone enter the club. What

was the leader of the Northern coven doing here? His eyes cut over to Eli,

making sure he was still over by the bar where Jimmy and Winston were

serving. He spotted his mate still talking with Shelby.

Buck looked up toward Jersey and then stood from his stool, moving closer

to Eli.

God love his brother.

After what the elder had done to Eli and what he had allowed the ghouls to

do, the Iachino brothers weren’t taking any chances with Eli.

Jersey loved the fact that Buck was so protective of his mate. It said a lot

about his character as a brother. Buck was the oldest and had always looked out

for Jersey. He was glad that Buck had extended that to his mate.

“What’s he doing here?” Christo asked from beside Jersey. He caught

himself before he jumped out of his skin. Hell, he hadn’t even seen Christo
approach.

“Got me,” Jersey said as he pushed from the booth. He started to look for

Yasuko until he remembered that he was with his mates.

Jersey felt a little lost around here since Yasuko was under lock and key

with his mates, so he wasn’t sure what he should do now that his bodyguard
duties weren’t needed at the moment.

Maybe he could help Harley bounce.

He was pretty damn good at knocking people around. His size alone

intimidated the crap out of everyone, especially humans. It would be the perfect

job for him. Jersey needed to see Christian about a career change.

“Keep an eye on him. I’m going to get Christian,” Christo said as he

disseminated. Jersey truly wished he could disappear into thin air without help

from a full-blooded vampire. If nothing else, it was freaky and cool as fuck. He

wanted that power, but being a half-breed, he lacked that handy little trick.

Jersey leaned further over the balcony, watching Dante closely, but his eyes

continuously shot to Eli. He wanted to go down there, but…hell, he didn’t even

know why he was still up on the balcony.

Jersey headed down the steps, walking over to his mate as his eyes stayed

glued on the leader of the Northern coven. Except for Christian, Jersey didn’t
trust anyone in power, and he had good reason not to after what Mallon had

done to Eli.

He swore he saw a look of relief on Eli’s face as he approached, but his

mate averted his eyes too quickly for Jersey to be sure. No matter, it was
Jersey’s job to protect his mate. He stopped in front of Eli, placing his body
between Dante’s and Eli’s, and even Shelby’s. Someone had to look out for the
little guy.

Dante cut a quick glance at Jersey and then looked away, as if

uninterested. Good, he needed to keep it that way. Jersey relaxed, somewhat,

when he saw Christian coming from the hallway that led to his office.

He turned, pulling Eli close. “Go find something to do, Shelby,” Jersey said

to the smaller vampire as he pulled Eli toward the stairs that led to the upper
floor. He wasn’t sure why Dante was here, but if things got funky, Jersey
wanted his mate as far away from the drama as possible.

“Where are we going?” Eli asked as he followed in a jerking motion, barely

keeping up. Jersey was starting to see that his mate wasn’t a very fast person.
Eli just had a way of doing things slowly. Like the fact that Eli was accepting
his new life slowly. The man didn’t hurry for anything.

“Away from that group,” he answered as he reached the top of the stairs

and pointed over to a booth. “Have a seat until the leader of the Northern
coven leaves.”

Eli gaped at him as he plopped down onto the booth seat. “There’s more

out there?”

“What, vampires? Duh. They’re everywhere. We just happen to be a part

of the prince’s coven. Lucky us, huh?”

“If you say so,” Eli mumbled as he took a seat, scowling like he really

didn’t want to be there.

Jersey leaned on the rail, watching the two leaders talk. His thoughts drifted

to his mate and he wondered if Eli was ever going to accept who he was now.

He knew it had to be strange to come into a whole new life, a whole new

species for that matter, and be told that this was it, there was no going back.

Jersey couldn’t even begin to imagine what that was like.

Jersey’s eyes flickered over to his mate, feeling a need so deep that it

almost clawed at him to hold Eli, touch him. He hadn’t even gotten a kiss from
his mate yet. He had a surplus of feelings welling up inside of him, and the one
person he could give them to didn’t want them.

“Would it be possible to get my things from my apartment before my

landlord tosses my stuff out on the tree lawn?”

Jersey jerked around, staring at Eli for a moment, letting his mate’s words

penetrate his wandering brain. “Yeah, we can go tomorrow night,” Jersey said
as he glanced back down at the two leaders. There was a small crowd forming

around them as Christian and Dante talked. Jersey was curious as to why the

vampire was there, but keeping his mate safe took precedence over his

curiosity.

“Am I going to store my stuff in Christian’s office?”
Jersey sighed. Was Eli ever going to accept him? “There are rooms up

here,” he said as he waved toward the back of the second floor. “You’re
welcome to stay in one of them.” Like mine.

“Thanks.” Eli rolled his eyes as he snorted. “I wish you would have told me

about them sooner. That couch isn’t the most comfortable place to sleep.”

Could have fooled him.

Jersey swore Eli liked the couch. Maybe he should have asked, but his mate

had been healing and scared. He didn’t want to move him into an unfamiliar
place on the second floor.

He had been willing to move Eli into his bedroom at the manor, but he

knew he would be sleeping with his mate if he had agreed. Jersey hated the fact
that Eli wanted to sleep alone. It hurt like hell, too. “Let me show you.”

Eli scooted out of the booth and stood behind Jersey as he showed his mate

where the extra bedrooms were. Jersey was told the coven used those rooms
for visiting vampires, the ones Christian didn’t want at the manor. He never
would have guessed that his mate would have been occupying one of them.

Eli stood there waiting in silence. Jersey looked down at his mate as Eli’s

pretty green eyes met Jersey’s black ones. “Am I going to be in the club alone
during the day?” his mate asked as he glanced around the balcony area.

His dark eyebrows slanted into a frown as he shook his head. “I’d never

leave you alone, Eli. My room is right next to yours.”

“Oh.” Eli blushed and then averted his eyes downward. Jersey wasn’t sure

what that blush meant, but the coloring did wonders for his mate’s ashen skin
tone. It looked good on him. Jersey wanted to see Eli blush more often.

Knowing he was dreaming the impossible, Jersey led his mate to the rooms

toward the back of the club, opening the door next to his bedroom. “How
about this one?”

Eli stepped in, his gaze flickering around the bedroom as he walked closer

to the dresser. The room was sparsely decorated with a bed, nightstand, and

dresser only. There was an area rug in the center of the room, but nothing more.
These rooms weren’t meant to have the comforts of home. They were just a
place to spend the night when needed. The windows had a black metal shield
covering them for the daylight hours, making sure the room’s occupant weren’t
burnt from the sun.

“Yes, thank you.”
Jersey knew being just one bedroom away was going to play havoc with his

body and mind. He also didn’t like the fact that he wasn’t going to be curled
around Eli’s frame. But what could he do?

Eli stood there looking sinfully delicious as Jersey stood there feeling lost.

It was a very awkward moment, neither saying a word as Eli leaned his butt

back into the dresser, looking down at his hands. Jersey stood in the doorway as

his mind raced for anything to say to his mate. He was drawing a blank. He
usually wasn’t a tongue-tied person, but hell if he could think of anything to
say.

“Hey, Jersey,” Isla, Christian’s third-in-command, called for him from

down the hallway. Jersey stepped outside the doorway, looking down the hall at

the vampire.

“What’s up?”
“Christian wants to see you.”
Jersey looked back at his mate. Eli had crossed the room and was standing

next to him, as if he didn’t want Jersey to leave. “Are you in trouble?”

Jersey couldn’t think of anything he’d gotten caught doing. He liked that

his mate seemed worried. It made him feel as though Eli was finally coming
around. “I don’t think so. Why don’t you come with me?”

“Today,” Isla said before disappearing down the steps.
Jersey knew he had to get moving. No one kept the prince waiting when he

summoned them.

As he stepped into the hallway, Eli followed. He was glad he didn’t have to

leave his mate up here by himself. He didn’t know Vincent too well, but he

would cut his balls off and shove them down his throat if he said one wrong

thing to Eli.

Everyone knew Vincent hated humans with a passion. He thought they

were cattle and had little regard for them. Jersey found them fascinating.
Humans were a lost race that needed guidance. He couldn’t understand
Vincent’s detestation, but he didn’t have to. Just as long as he kept his sharp
tongue and hands to himself, then all was good.

Jersey was like a steamroller as he moved people out of the way. Too many

had gathered at the bottom of the steps, hindering his progress to the prince. He
didn’t want anyone touching his mate, and he wasn’t afraid to let anyone know
this. He spotted Buck standing behind Minsheng as Christian spoke with Dante.

Yasuko stood behind Christian with their son in his arms, but most of the coven

was behind

Yasuko.

Just what in the hell was going on here?
The prince didn’t stop talking with Dante. He just pointed to Yasuko.

Jersey immediately took up a stance behind the young prince, pulling Eli
behind him. Thank goodness his mate didn’t question him as Jersey stood there
protecting the two men.

“I just don’t understand how this could be happening,” Dante was saying.

“Maurice is gone, yet members of my coven are still being found dead.”

Jersey listened closer.
“And you think it’s someone in your coven?” Christian asked.
“Trust me when I say that coming to you was very hard for me. It is a sign

of weakness on my part, but I’ve tried everything that I can think of to find the
culprit and put a stop to this, but the body count continues to rise. I have young

ones afraid to come out and feed for fear of their lives. I cannot blame them, yet

I cannot figure out who is doing this.”

Jersey paid close attention. If someone was out there killing off coven

members, he needed to know. His mate was now a coven member. It might be

the Northern coven that was experiencing the problem, but that could change

quickly.

After all, it was Christian’s coven that had defeated Maurice and ended his

reign of insanity. No telling who had an ax to grind. He was surprised that no

one had tried to retaliate against the prince for what he had done to Maurice.

The man was insane, but he seemed to have many followers.

“There’s something else,” Dante said, his square jaw tensing visibly. “The

rogues seem to have united. They are working together now.”

Gasps rang out among the coven as Jersey cursed. This wasn’t good.

Rogues stayed to themselves, drinking blood and killing their victims. If they

hunted in groups now—Jersey shuddered at the

ramifications behind that thought.

This was bad.
It would be human slaughter, plain and simple.
“I saw a group of them on my way here. They were savagely attacking a

young human couple. I wasn’t able to save the pair, but my men and I managed
to kill the four rogues.”

Jersey could feel Eli’s fingers grab his wrist. He looked down to see his

mate staring at Dante in horror. Even his newly converted mate felt the

implication of what Dante was saying.

“I know that you are acquaintances with the shifters. You may want to

warn them. I’m not sure how far this uniting extends,” Dante finished.

Jersey knew that someone had placed a price on Christian’s head from the

destruction of the Liquid Wrath lab that he and the other leaders had destroyed

in Brac Village.

Now this?
Things were getting out of control, and Jersey didn’t like it one bit. He’d

have to make a trip to his parents’ home soon to check on them. Although his
mother was a vampire and very capable of taking care of herself, rogues were
sneaky bastards and couldn’t be trusted for shit. He knew his father would die
to defend his mother, and that thought was something that Jersey wasn’t going
to let happen.

“Thank you for warning me. I’ll look into the problem you are having at

your coven immediately.”

Dante bowed and left the club with the vampires who had accompanied

him, his profile sharp and confident. Dante might be asking Christian for help,

but Jersey could tell that the leader was no one to mess around with.

He was tall, lean, and had an air about him that screamed lethality.

Christian had picked the right guy to run the Northern coven.

Christian turned, summoning Buck and Jersey over, conferring with them

privately. “I am going to the Northern coven to deal with this matter. Look after
my mates and son.”

“With our lives,” Buck responded automatically.
“Yes, prince.”
“Your mate may join you, Jersey. Keep him safe as well,” Christian said

before disappearing right before their eyes. Minsheng threw a holy-cow fit as
Christian disappeared, but Buck managed to get him into Christian’s office.
Yasuko hurried without complaint.

“What’s going on?” Eli whispered to Jersey as they walked into the office.
Jersey shut the door, locking it before turning to his mate. “Remember

when I told you that Christian was the original vampire?”

Eli nodded.
“Well, he’s going to go find the one killing coven members and make them

wish they’d never fucked with Dante’s coven.”

Eli’s brows shot to his hairline as his lips rounded in an O.
“He’s going to kick their butts,” Yasuko said as he took a seat on the couch.

Jersey pulled his mate back when Minsheng crossed the room and sat down

next to Yasuko, practically wrapping himself around the smaller man and the

baby.

No one knew if Christian or Minsheng was the baby’s father, and it

honestly didn’t matter. The trio was a tight family, and Jersey was envious of
their closeness. He wished he had an ounce of that with his mate.

Jersey moved his mate further away from the couple. Eli was a newborn,

unaware of the fierceness of Minsheng when it came to Yasuko, Christian, and

the baby. The guy growled, snapped, and barked at anyone who came too close

to his mates.

Jersey sat down behind the desk and pulled Eli into his lap. His mate

looked nervous, but Jersey was going to get him used to loving a man openly.
He wasn’t going to hide what he felt for Eli, and he’d be damned if he was
going to let Eli hide his feelings as well.

He wasn’t going to let that happen.
Jersey knew his mate wanted him. He could see it in his dazzling hazel

eyes. Every time he caught Eli stealing glances at him, Jersey could see the
longing swimming around in Eli’s eyes. There was a hunger there that Eli was
dying to unleash. Jersey could feel it like an electric current shooting between

the two of them. He was going to tap into that electricity sooner or later, but he

was praying for sooner before his blue balls fell off.

“Are you thirsty?” he asked Eli.
His mate’s eyes shot to everyone in the room as he shook his head, but

Jersey could see the truth by the way Eli kept swallowing rapidly and rubbing

at his stomach then throat.

His mate was hungry as hell.

As soon as Christian came back, Jersey was going to take Eli to his

bedroom and make his mate drink. It was utter nonsense that Eli was starving.
Jersey didn’t like that one bit. Not only did his mate need his strength, but
damned if Jersey didn’t get hard as granite when Eli fed.

And maybe he could get some of that tight ass that kept squirming on his

lap, teasing him.

One could hope.

Chapter Four

Christian disseminated into the Northern coven. It had been a very long

time since he’d been here. When he killed Maurice, it was his coven who had
come in here and cleaned house. It seemed they let one of the cockroaches get

away.

Christian planned on stomping the son of a bitch into the ground.

The young ones bowed as Christian walked among them. Some visibly

shook as Christian passed them, while others stared at him as if he were a deity.

Christian loved his race, and it truly disturbed him when any one of them

turned rogue. His race was beautiful and enchanting, mystical creatures unlike

any other. He hated to see destruction from any of them.

“How will you know just by looking at them?” Dante asked from beside

him as they walked through the large living room in the manor the Northern

coven lived in. Christian studied each face, quietly probing each mind, looking

for the one with the most secrets to hide.

“Is this everyone?” Christian asked as he continued to study the young ones

gathered here.

Dante nodded as he stood fiercely next to Christian, his face marred with

lines of anger. “Yes, I summoned the entire coven back here.”

Christian nodded as he noticed one of the males moving ever so slowly

toward the door. He didn’t let on that he noticed this, acting just as casual as
when he had arrived. His eyes flickered around the room so quickly that he

knew none of the vampires could see what he was doing.

“Stop him.” Christian mentally pushed the order to two of the vampires

closest to the one attempting to flee. He also included the image of the guilty

party.

“I believe I have found the one you seek,” Christian said as the two males

struggled with the offender, bringing the man to where Christian stood. The

vampire was kicking and screaming, fighting the hold the other two had on him

as they forced the guilty man to his knees.

“I’ll kill him!” Dante roared, but Christian held his hand up, stalling Dante

from inflicting his declaration as he circled around the young one. He placed
his hand on the young one’s head, pulling memories from his mind, flickering
through them as he sought the ones he was looking for.

He was one hundred percent positive this was the one that was killing the

other vampires, but he wanted to see for himself, see the memories of the

young one killing them.

As the memories played, a different story unfolded. Christian watched as

the young one kneeling before him cut the head from one of his victims, but not

before the young one spoke.

“I will not allow you to go rogue. Maurice is dead, and his ways should

die, too. You carry on as if he is still governing us.”

“Fuck you. Dante is nothing like Maurice,” the man with the blade to his

throat spat. “Maurice was brilliant, and I will carry on his desires. You cannot
stop all of us, fool.”

“So be it. You have sentenced yourself to death,” the young one snarled

and then let the blade fly, killing the soon-to-be rogue.

Christian watched similar scenarios play through the young vampire’s

mind, each and every one with almost the same dialogue. He removed his hand
as the young one before him bowed his head before Christian. “Why did you
not go to your leader with this?”

The young vampire shook his head as he looked up from under his lashes,

his lips firm, his jaw square. “Then they would have known and hidden, Prince.
I had to stop them.”

Dante pulled the man to his feet and sank his fangs into the young one’s

neck. He waited patiently as Dante’s eyes grew rounder. He pulled his fangs
free and sealed the wound.

“Have you killed them all?” Dante asked the man.
“Yes, leader, I have. And I would do it again if given the choice. They

didn’t deserve to live,” the young one declared with conviction.

Christian admired the tenacity the young vampire displayed. It wasn’t often

one stood up for what he believed in and chanced being killed to stop one of his
race from killing humans. “What is your name?”

“Brandon, Prince,” the vampire answered and then lowered his head once

more. “I understand if you have to kill me. I will not cower and run.”

Christian walked a few feet away, Dante at his side. “He will not be

punished for ridding your coven of Maurice’s followers.”

“I agree.” Dante nodded. “In my eyes, he is a true warrior.”
“Yes, but a warrior that needs protection at the moment. I have read the

minds of your coven members and some disagree with what Brandon has done.

Some still feel as though Maurice was a true leader and despise you. I will take

him to my coven until this matter is settled. I think you have a few more to cut
from the flock,” Christian said as he named the disgruntled coven members
whose minds he had read. “They hide it well. Since they have committed no
crime, they cannot be killed. Watch them closely.”

Dante bowed his head. “Thank you for dealing with this.”
Christian chuckled as he turned to look over Dante’s coven. “Let’s drop the

ceremony here. It gutted you to come to me. Admit it.”

A grin spread across Dante’s face as he nodded. He placed his hands behind

his back as his eyes roamed over the vampires he was in charge of caring for.
“With every fiber in me.”

Christian grunted as he faced Dante. “I look at you no less for coming to

me. Everyone needs help once in a while.”

“Let’s just not make a habit of it,” Dante replied as he walked away.

Christian grinned as he waved for Brandon to come to him. He liked the new

coven leader. Dante was going to do well.

“Yes, Prince?”
“Gather your belongings. You are now a part of my coven.”
“But—”
Christian locked eyes with Brandon, silencing him immediately. He leaned

close, his lips mere inches from the young one’s. “You missed a few, and now
they want your head. I would suggest you do as I say. I know you have a brave
heart, but admit it, Brandon. You killed those vampires out of sheer luck.”

Brandon looked as though it killed him to admit it, but slowly he nodded. “I

did.”

“Then gather your things. I will wait for you.”
“But what of my brother, Prince? I mean no disrespect, but he’s all I have.”
Christian sighed. Why did family always complicate things? He knew he

had to take the brother as well or Brandon’s brother would be the next to be
beheaded. “Very well, fetch your brother. But hurry, I have mates and a son to
return to.”

Brandon took off, heading out of the room like his life depended on it.

Christian waved two vampires over to his side. “Go with Brandon, and make
sure nothing happens to him.”

The two raced from the room to do as ordered. As soon as Brandon

returned, his brother in tow, Christian disseminated from the Northern coven.

* * * *

Jersey drummed his fingers on the chair as his cock grew impossibly

harder. He wasn’t sure why he was torturing himself by keeping Eli on his lap,
but damn if it didn’t feel good.

He hitched his hips, watching as his mate flew up and then back down.

When Eli turned to glare at him, Jersey quickly looked away, humming as if he
hadn’t done a thing. As soon as Eli looked back toward the room, Jersey
hitched his hips again.

“Will you stop that?” Eli asked indignantly as his hands slammed on the

desk to stop himself from being tossed.

“Stop what?” he asked innocently. “I was stretching.”
Eli narrowed his eyes, his lips thinning as he looked at Jersey like he didn’t

believe a word he said. Jersey bit back the chuckle as he gave Eli the most

innocent look he could muster.

“I’m watching you,” Eli warned as he turned back around. Jersey could see

Buck grinning from ear to ear from across the office. He winked at his brother

and then hitched his hips again.

“You did that on purpose!” Eli growled as his head turned to glare at Jersey

once more.

“Did not!” Jersey shot back. He could see the others snickering from the

corner of his eye. “My back is stiff.”

And his cock.
Images of Jersey sliding his mate’s pants down and fucking him where they

sat played through his mind, making his cock throb harder.

“Fine, I can solve that problem,” Eli snapped as he began to slide from

Jersey’s lap.

“Okay, okay,” Jersey grumbled as he held Eli in place, stopping him from

escaping. “Uncle.” Geez.

Eli growled but stayed put. Jersey could see the sparkle in Eli’s eyes and

knew he was enjoying this. The man was just too stubborn to admit it. When
everyone was looking away, Jersey clamped his hands on Eli’s hips and ground
his cock hard into his mate’s ass.

Eli didn’t protest this time. In fact, he was pushing back slightly. That was,

until Buck looked over at them. Then Eli stilled. Jersey hated this covert shit.
He wasn’t one to hide his desires, and he’d be damned if he allowed his mate to
creep in the dark. But for now, Jersey was enjoying the feel of Eli’s tight ass on
his cock—even if it was through clothes.

Jersey scooted the chair closer to the desk and then slid his hand around to

the front of Eli’s jeans, cupping his cock and running his thumb over his mate’s
erection. Eli ground his ass into Jersey’s cock as he gripped his mate’s erection
harder. He could hear small pants falling from Eli’s lips.

Now Jersey was determined to make his mate come while sitting there. He

popped Eli’s button, slowly peeled back his zipper, and then ran his thumb over
the head of Eli’s moist cock, smearing the pre-cum around, playing in the
sticky wetness. He was dying to lick his fingers clean. His mouth watered to
taste his mate’s cum.

Buck looked their way, but Jersey gave a slight shake to his head. His

brother covered his smile and looked away. Jersey reached into Eli’s pants,
freeing his mate’s cock under the desk. Eli stiffened, his back rigid as he
glanced around the room.

Jersey placed his free hand on Eli’s stomach, pressing into it until Eli’s

back was resting against Jersey’s chest. “No one will see,” Jersey whispered
into Eli’s ear.

His mate didn’t look convinced.
Stroking Eli’s cock ever so slowly, Jersey pressed his shaft hard into Eli’s

ass. He’d give anything right now to have his dick buried deeply inside Eli.
Small electrical currents shot through Jersey’s groin as he palmed Eli’s cock
and jacked it while his thumb rubbed the drooling pre-cum around.

Eli’s hips began to wiggle slightly, a tiny moan escaping his lips as he

pushed forward, fucking his dick in Jersey’s hand.

Maybe this covert shit had its merits because Jersey couldn’t ever

remember being this turned on. He glanced around, seeing Minsheng and

Yasuko talking quietly and Buck staring at a painting on the wall, purposely

ignoring them.

Jersey got bolder, sliding his free hand down the back of Eli’s waistband.

If anyone looked at them now, it would be very obvious what was going on

behind the desk, under it as well. He had a feeling everyone already knew

what was going on and were averting their gazes for Jersey.

They all knew how prickly Eli was being since his conversion. Jersey

didn’t give two shits if they were helping out his cause by giving him a
semblance of privacy. His focus was on bringing his mate off.

Jersey’s index finger circled around his mate’s hole, playing with it as he

continued to stroke Eli under the desk. His mate was starting to pant more

heavily as he leaned forward, placing his arms on the desk, trying his best to

look casual as he lifted his ass slightly, giving Jersey more room to insert his

fingers.

Eli looked anything but casual. He was letting out small grunts and

wiggling around like his pants were on fire. Jersey ran his fingers over the head
of Eli’s cock and then ran them down his shaft, using the clear liquid as lube as
he picked up the pace, giving Eli a full-blown hand job. When he felt his mate’s
balls draw close to his body, Jersey shoved his finger into his mate’s ass,
making Eli scream with his release—just as Christian appeared in the office.

The prince’s brow rose high as he stared at Jersey and Eli, and then turned

his attention away. Jersey kissed the back of his mate’s neck and then
straightened his clothes just as two more vampires appeared.

“You’re hot when you come. Next time, I want you to come in my mouth,”

Jersey whispered before setting Eli on his wobbly legs as he stood. Jersey
chuckled as he placed his hand on the small of Eli’s back to steady him.

“Buck, Brandon and—” Christian stopped talking and looked down at one

of the vampires standing close to him. “What is your name, young one?”

“August, Prince.”
Christian nodded with a smile and then turned back to Jersey’s brother.

“Brandon and August will be staying with us. Brandon has done the Northern
coven a service and killed some of Maurice’s followers. But there are a few
more, and Brandon’s life is no longer safe at his present home.”

Jersey shoved his hand in his front pocket, unsure of what to do with Eli’s

spent seed. He just prayed no one wanted to shake hands. The slickness of his

hand would be a tough one to explain.

As the room cleared, Eli rounded on him. Jersey’s body tensed as he geared

up for the argument he knew was coming. He wasn’t going to apologize for
making Eli come. It was the sexiest thing he had ever done, and he would do it
again in a heartbeat. He’d call the entire coven to watch if Eli made those little
noises again. It was downright hot!

Eli smiled from under his lashes as his face turned a lovely shade of pink.

“I, uh, I’m going to bed.”

Was that an invitation?
A plan formed in Jersey’s head. He was going to wait a few minutes and

then go up to his mate’s bedroom, insisting that Eli feed, and then bam, he was
going to fuck his mate until the entire club shook from the pounding he was
about to inflict on Eli’s ass.

He cleared his throat, giving Eli a slight nod, trying his best to be as casual

as possible. “Yeah, go to bed.” Because I’ll be up there in a hot second to fuck
you into the next millennium, mate.

He could see hesitation in Eli’s eyes, as if Jersey was going to turn him

down. There was no need for that. Jersey wasn’t going to pass up this
opportunity even if the sun miraculously penetrated the club and started boiling
his hairy ass. He’d fuck Eli while his skin blistered. Nothing was going to get
in his way.

Eli left the office, looking over his shoulder at Jersey right before he

walked out. Oh yeah, that was a come-hither look if he’d ever seen one. Jersey

was so hard that his cock was about to drill a hole in his pants and free itself to

chase Eli down.

He counted to fifty and then took off, going after his mate. That was

enough time. Fuck waiting any longer. Jersey had waited long enough for this

moment. If anyone tried to stop him, Jersey would toss them out on their

ass—prince included. No one was standing in his way of getting some of Eli.

He took the steps three at a time as he raced to Eli’s bedroom. His mate

spun around as Jersey thrust the bedroom door open. Eli was standing there in

nothing but his boxers. A deep growl ripped from Jersey’s chest as his eyes

took in all the milky flesh exposed to him.

His mate’s body still held scars, bite marks, and fine slash marks marring

his beautiful skin. But they had faded to almost nonexistence and didn’t detract

from his beauty in the least.

Jersey closed the distance, hauling Eli from his feet as he slammed him

against the wall. Their lips locked in a duel of tongues as Eli’s legs wrapped
around Jersey’s waist. Their first kiss was explosive as Jersey tried to suck Eli’s
tongue from his damn mouth. Their teeth clinked together as Eli opened wide,
letting Jersey’s tongue swoop in to explore the warm, cavernous mouth. His
mate tasted exactly how Jersey knew he would, sweet, warm, and manly.

Hot damn!

He was about to claim his mate.

Fuck yeah.

Jersey had been waiting for this moment. It had felt like time had dragged

on for centuries since he saw his mate crumpled on the leather couch that first

night. He wanted Eli so badly that it bordered on insanity.

Eli broke the kiss, taking his moist, kiss-swollen lips away as his fingers

dug into Jersey’s skin. He ground his hard cock into Jersey’s stomach. The
head of Eli’s dick was peeking out, the pre-cum bathing his belly as Eli buried
his face in Jersey’s neck and inhaled deeply, smelling him. “Fuck me, Jersey.
Please, fuck me, fuck me.”

Jersey growled at the way his mate begged to be filled. It was the sweetest

sound to his ears. He spun around and left Eli’s room, taking him from his
bedroom over to Jersey’s.

Jersey’s bedroom had lube.

Jersey slammed the door closed behind him and then deposited his mate on

his unmade bed. Eli bounced, resting on his elbows as he looked up at Jersey

from under his dark lashes, a playful tease in his eyes. Fuck if he didn’t look

good spread out over his crumpled sheets—like he was meant to be there.

Eli didn’t say a word as Jersey peeled his clothes off, peacocking.
Flexing.

Showing off.

Damn straight.

He was going to show his mate what he had to offer.

Eli licked his lips as he watched Jersey reveal his naked skin, his cock

jutting out proudly and leaking heavily as Eli’s tongue swiped across his
bottom lip. When Eli rolled, getting onto his hands and knees, Jersey grabbed
Eli’s side and flipped him back over. “I don’t want your back.”

Eli looked confused, but didn’t argue.
Fuck that. He wanted to watch his mate fall apart as Jersey rocked his

goddamn world. He had been waiting for this very moment, and he wasn’t
going to miss it by staring at the back of Eli’s head.

He reached down and hooked his fingers into the waistband of Eli’s boxers,

pulling them down and off. Damn, his mate had one fine ass cock. The head

was already an angry purple, telling him that Eli was already close.

Jersey ripped the drawer open to his nightstand, snagging the well-used

bottle of lube as he dropped to his knees, worshipping the boner that was
jutting out, teasing him. His lips parted as Jersey’s tongue took a swipe at the
clear liquid leaking out, making his mate’s cock jerk its approval. Jersey
opened wider and took his mate’s cock into his mouth, feeling the spongy head
slide past his lips and onto his tongue.

“Jersey!”
That’s right, call my name. Shout it to the damn heavens.

Jersey wet his fingers with the gel and then pushed two inside his mate’s

ass as his tongue lapped up and down Eli’s cock, tonguing the large vein and
then swiping it over the head.

There was no way Eli was ever going to doubt who fucked him properly.

Jersey was going to make sure of that. He flattened his tongue and ran it up and
down Eli’s cock harder as his fingers scissored inside his mate’s tight back
entrance. His own cock was begging to get in on the action as it throbbed out its

plea.

Eli’s hands raced over Jersey’s hair as his hips began to buck, fucking

Jersey’s mouth in an erratic rhythm. Jersey opened his mouth wider as he
pulled his fingers back, letting a third slide in alongside the other two.

He took Eli all the way back and down his throat as his tongue snaked out

and licked at his balls. Eli bucked and shouted as his ass clamped down on
Jersey’s fingers tightly. Jersey fucked Eli’s ass with all three fingers in rapid
successions as Eli came down his throat, hot spurts splashing in quick bursts.

Jersey pulled his fingers free as his tongue lapped at the slit, drawing out

every last drop of honey.

“My turn,” he growled as he reared back and then stood up. Eli was pulling

in ragged gulps of air as Jersey grabbed the lube and poured the damn bottle

onto his cock.

“You’re going to feed from me, just so you know,” he warned as he

plunged deeply into Eli’s tight ass, making his mate howl with pleasure, his
hands shooting out and grabbing Jersey’s shoulders. Jersey scooped his mate
from the bed and then flipped, landing on his back, his mate perched above him

looking like a hot, sexy mess.

“Now feed,” he demanded as he pulled Eli’s head down toward his neck,

his fingers buried in his mate’s hair. Eli struck, dragging in large swallows of
Jersey’s blood as Jersey grabbed his mate’s hips and fucked him with such
force that Eli was bouncing into the air.

His balls were smashed between them, Eli’s cock a hard reminder of what

Jersey’s was enjoying so much. He reveled in the feel of Eli’s hard dick
rubbing against his stomach. He was pounding his cock so hard into Eli’s ass
that Jersey’s thighs were vibrating.

Eli shoved his hands under Jersey’s shoulders, hugging him close as he

drank with greed. Jersey’s cock plunged deeper as he gritted his teeth, refusing
to come so soon.

Not yet, not yet, not yet.

His balls were so tight to his body that Jersey thought they were going to

crawl up into him at any second. He pushed Eli down onto his cock as he thrust

forward, loving the sound of their skin smacking together, reverberating off of

the walls. The lube was slick between them, making it easy for Jersey to shove

his cock home.

This was fucking fantastic.
When Eli licked the wound closed, his tongue on Jersey’s neck making him

shudder in pleasure, Jersey struck, drinking from his mate for the very first
time. The blood was so intoxicating that Jersey’s head spun. He didn’t take as
much as Eli had, the man was still healing after all, but he took enough to bind

them together for all eternity.

His.

Eli was finally his.

Forever.

Reluctantly, Jersey sealed the pinpricks, and then he flipped his body over,

pinning Eli beneath him as he buried his cock into Eli’s ass over and over
again, the tightness of Eli’s body accepting his hard cock repeatedly.

Eli shouted for the third time that night as his cock erupted between them,

making both of their chests slick with cum. Jersey didn’t stop. He was going to

make sure Eli wanted to come back for more. Beg him for more.

He leaned back as Eli pulled his legs to his chest and grabbed his mate’s

hips, slamming into Eli’s ass with rapid speed. He watched as Eli’s half-hard
cock bounced around, making Jersey’s mouth water for another taste.

Just one more.
His eyes dropped to where his cock had his mate’s puckered hole red and

swollen, diving in and out of his ass and creating a wondrous sight. The skin

was stretched around Jersey’s cock, taking him in, swallowing him.

Jersey’s neck muscles strained as he fought the impending orgasm with a

clenched jaw. He wanted this to last for hours, forever. But it was their first
time together, and Jersey knew he wouldn’t be able to hold back.

He reached up and pinched Eli’s nipples with his fingers as his head fell

back onto his shoulders, a roar ripping from his chest as his seed emptied from

his balls.

Jersey rocked slowly as his heart beat out of control. He reached up and

wiped the sweat that was dripping into his eyes, making them sting as his other
hand glided over his mate’s quivering stomach.

“You’re mine now, Eli.” Jersey glanced down when his mate didn’t reply.
His grin stretched wide as he saw Eli fast asleep.

Yeah, that was what he was talking about.

Chapter Five

Eli shifted to his left butt cheek, but that didn’t help. He winced when he

tried to sit on the stool the normal way, both cheeks. Jersey had made sure he
wasn’t going to sit properly for a long while. His vampire wasn’t like those
back-alley fucks Eli was used to. Jersey won fuck of the year, hands down.

“You know, if you stopped trying to hide that you’re in love with the big

guy, you might be a little happier,” Jimmy said from the other side of the
counter. “There’s no shame in loving a man.”

Eli averted his eyes as his father’s voice rang inside his head. Faggot,

demon spawn, abomination. He rubbed his temples with the tips of his fingers

to rid his brain of his father’s voice. He didn’t know what to do, and Eli was

tired of fighting it. He was so damn weary of fighting who he truly was.

All because he didn’t want to let his father down.
Maybe he could actually be happy now. He lived in an entirely different

world where no one cared who he was seen with. He was becoming

accustomed to his fangs and the fact that he was now a vampire. Maybe he

could actually let his guard down and be himself.

“Give me a crimson,” he said to Jimmy as he slapped the bar.
His best friend smiled and winked at him. “That’s the spirit. I miss the old

Eli.”

He did, too.

Eli took the glass of blood from Jimmy and took a large drink, spewing it

out as his body jerked around like he just ate a whole bushel of lemons. “What
the hell is that?”

Vincent growled as he grabbed the bar rag and wiped the front of his shirt

off. “I’m going to start wearing a rubber suit if you keep making the damn
crimson,” he muttered to Jimmy.

“That bad?” Jimmy asked Eli. “I’ll get it right eventually.”
“Until you do, keep me out of your scientific experiment.” Eli shuddered as

the foul-tasting blood remained in his mouth. He grabbed a napkin and began to
wipe his tongue. “So who is who?” Eli asked as he tossed the napkin onto the
bar.

“This is Winston.” Jimmy nodded to a vampire behind the bar. Eli reached

out and shook the guy’s hand.

“And this is Vincent. He hates humans and tried to use me as a blood cow

and to set up my mate when I first got here.”

“I—” Vincent curled his lips in as he glared at Jimmy.
“If he steps one toe out of line, Christian’s going to barbecue him,” Jimmy

stated offhandedly. Eli spun around, looking out over the club as his best friend
continued to point people out. “That’s Harley at the door. He scrubs humans’
minds before they leave so they don’t remember vampires.”

Eli looked in the direction of the door, remembering the vampire when he

tried to escape. The guy had blocked his way. Harley looked their way, as if he

knew they were talking about him, and winked at Eli before running his hand
over some guy’s head as he walked out.

He was so glad he hadn’t run out of the door that night. Being who he was

was confusing enough. Having his brain scrubbed would have sucked even

more.

“I’m still getting to know the coven members, but there’s Christo,

Christian’s second-in-command, and Isla is standing next to him. He’s
Christian’s third. Vaughn mans the back hallway if you ever wander back there,
but I wouldn’t suggest that.”

Eli looked over to where Jimmy was pointing. Was every damn vampire in

this place gorgeous, or was his newfound freedom to declare he was gay

jumping into overdrive? Hey, he could look.

“That’s Emilio on the dance floor. And Shelby you’ve met already.”
Eli remembered Shelby from their conversation the night before. The man

was a little excited, but he was a pretty nice guy. He waved at Eli when he saw

Eli watching him. Eli gave a small wave back and then turned back around to

face the wall of liquor.

“The two bouncers that surf the crowd are Hudson and Sutton. You’ll

figure everyone out,” Jimmy reassured him. “It’s not as bad as you think here.
They’re a really tight family that looks out for each other. If you need help, any
one of the vampires here will be more than happy to help you.”

Eli nodded as he glanced around for Jersey.
“Your mate’s in a meeting with the prince. They have a lot of those. My

mate is Nija. He’s Christian’s fourth-in-command.”

Eli glanced back at Jimmy, wondering if his mate had a position. “What’s

Jersey?”

Jimmy looked surprised as he leaned both arms on the counter, cocking his

head to the side. “You don’t know?”

“If I did, would I have asked?” he snapped and then smiled.
“Prick.” Jimmy snorted as he pushed away from the counter. “He’s

Yasuko’s bodyguard.”

Eli sat there stunned. His mate had a very important job here. Eli was

actually proud of that fact.

“Buck, Jersey’s brother, guards Minsheng. You don’t want to piss that

small man off. Be polite as hell to Yasuko. Minsheng has a hair trigger when it

comes to his mate. I wouldn’t do anything to piss Christian off either. Not
because he’s the prince, although that’s a factor, but more because Minsheng
will try to eat you for breakfast for doing anything to upset his mates.”

Duly noted.
Eli hadn’t planned on doing anything to make the man with the baby mad,

or the prince, but it was good to know what would happen if he did. Eli

watched two men walk through a door from behind the bar. One looked content

while the other looked dazed, a happy-asfuck grin plastered on his face.

“There is a kitchen back there. But there is also a small room off of the

kitchen that vampires use to do things when they don’t want to go back to the
BDSM rooms,” Jimmy informed him before walking down the length of the
bar to take an order. Eli looked over his shoulder at the hallway on the far side

of the club where he and Jersey had left when going to get fish sandwiches.

So that was what that was. He wasn’t the least bit interested to try one of

the rooms out, but it was good to know what those rooms were used for. That

explained the hanging man he had seen that night.

Sweet baby cows, what kind of place was this? Everyone walked around

here as if the club wasn’t filled with vampires or humans trying to get off on
being bit or being spanked. This was all so weird. The first time he had come to

this club, before any kidnappings, when he was innocent in the head of

everything around him, Eli had danced his heart out and then left. Nothing

spectacular.

He looked over at Harley at the door, mind erasing some humans leaving,

and wondered if he had done more that night and just couldn’t remember. He
shuddered at the thought of what might have happened.

No one treated him any differently, so apparently nothing too bad had

taken place.

His head snapped around when he heard Jersey’s deep voice from behind

him. His mate was coming from the hallway that contained Christian’s office.
That was the only room in that hallway. Looking around, a person wouldn’t
think the club that big. Looks were deceiving.

Jersey walked up behind him, leaning his body into Eli’s. “From the way

you’re sitting, someone is sore,” he whispered into Eli’s ear, making his face
heat up. Buck took a seat next to Eli, grinning at him.

“We’re going out tonight. Wanna join us?” Buck leaned close to Eli in a

conspiratorial way and asked quietly.

“He’s not going,” Jersey protested from behind Eli.
“He’ll be safe. Besides, he’s got to be bored out of his skull hanging around

here all the time,” Buck argued back.

Eli was. “I thought we were going to get my things from my apartment,” he

reminded Jersey as he pushed from the stool, wincing when he took a few

steps. Jersey sure knew how to fuck to make a guy remember.

Jersey patted him on his ass as he winked at him. Bastard. He followed

Buck, Jersey behind him as they exited the club. Harley nodded at Eli as he

passed, hovering his hand close.

“Don’t even think about it!” Jersey growled and smacked at Harley’s hand,

knocking it away.

“Just playing.” Harley laughed as Jersey narrowed his eyes and grabbed

Eli’s hand. Eli was lost at what just happened. They walked out into a parking
lot, Jersey pulling out the car keys and hitting a button. Eli’s jaw dropped when
he saw a small-as-fuck Nissan’s lights blink. Did these two larger-than-average
vampires really drive that car? Compared to the brothers’ sizes, the car looked
more like a tuna can. Way too small.

“Why can’t we just disappear like I’ve see other vampires do?” Eli asked as

they approached the powder-blue car.

Powder blue?

Seriously?
“We’re not full-blooded, so we can’t disseminate. Go ahead, rub it in,”

Buck said as he opened the passenger-side door and climbed into the backseat.
The car dipped to one side as Buck settled back. Eli wasn’t too sure about this
plan of theirs. He watched Jersey get into the driver’s seat and the car righted.
Maybe they had to ride together to keep the car balanced? Eli slipped into the
passenger’s seat and buckled in.

Eli rolled the window down. It was a bit chilly out tonight, but he wanted to

enjoy the fresh air. He felt like he’d been cooped up in that club forever.

Jersey started the car and popped a CD in. Eli’s fingers curled around the

seat belt when Madonna began to sing. Jersey and Buck began to sing along as

Jersey pulled from the parking lot.

What kind of crazy world did he live in now?
Jersey turned the “Like a Virgin” song down as he looked over at Eli. “So

where is your apartment?”

“On Miles Avenue.”
Jersey jerked the car, Eli fearing it was about to tip over as Buck sat

forward and leaned between the seats. “You’ve got to be kidding me. That’s
like the worst part of town. I wouldn’t even go out in the daytime if I were a
human living over there. We feed heavily on Miles,” Buck said from between

the seats.

“You’ve never been bitten?” Jersey asked in astonishment. “Wait, scratch

that. You wouldn’t have remembered anyways. What in the hell were you
doing living there?”

“It’s all I could afford!” Eli shot at both of them. “Geez, kill a guy’s pride,

why don’t you.”

“It’s just dangerous,” Buck answered.
“Oh, and like the life I’m living now isn’t?” Eli retorted.
“Hell, no. You have me and Buck to protect you. Ain’t nothing gonna

happen to you,” Jersey boasted proudly.

“It will if Buck doesn’t sit his big ass back in his seat,” Eli argued as Buck

settled back with a grin.

Jersey laughed as he turned the music back up. Eli wanted to sink down in

his seat. He was gay, and even he didn’t listen to that music. He prayed no one

he knew caught him in a car with two large men singing about a virgin for the
very first time. The song switched over to “Borderline,” and Eli was ready to
jump from the car.

Buck began to sing louder as he reached forward and grabbed Eli’s

shoulders, making them shake back and forth as if he were dancing to the song.

“Will you stop?” Eli shouted as he batted at Buck’s hands.

“Oh, come on, loosen up,” Buck said from behind him. “Live a little.”
Eli grinned when Jersey began to dance in his seat. It was the most bizarre

sight he’d ever seen, beside the two large vampires driving this little ass
powder-blue car.

He rolled his eyes when the song “Hungry Like the Wolf” began to play.

What kind of mix CD was this? Buck howled from the backseat as Jersey
continued to make jerky movements. Eli prayed that wasn’t how his mate really
danced.

All three were laughing by the time they pulled up in front of Eli’s

apartment building. The two brothers were comical. Eli was finally letting his

guard down and enjoying himself. The brothers even had him singing along,

although he would never in a million years admit it.

“Okay, let’s get you packed and out of here,” Jersey said as he opened Eli’s

car door. The men that hung out on the block that normally fucked with Eli

stood back, all eyeing the two vampires with him. Eli grinned, feeling

empowered as he walked into his apartment.

Fuck with me now, bastards.

Jimmy had asked Eli to move in with him a thousand times, but Eli had

always refused. He liked living on his own, even if it was in a dangerous

neighborhood. His parents never came down here because of the rough-looking

men that decorated the streets like zombies at night. As soon as they noticed

fresh meat, they all came stumbling over.

“Nice hood,” Buck said as he walked into the building. “Reminds me of the

zombie apocalypse.”

Eli chuckled as he let the two men into his apartment. “I was just thinking

along the same lines,” he admitted.

The keys jingled as Eli unlocked his apartment door. He swung it wide and

then froze when he saw a stranger standing in his living room. “Who are you?”

The man tried to take off down the hallway, but Buck and Jersey were all

over him in seconds, yanking the punk by his collar as Buck bared his large

fangs at the man. The stranger wet his pants as he shook like a leaf. Eli crinkled

his nose at the immediate smell of urine as Buck pulled the guy back into the

room.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Jersey snarled, making the man turn a

whiter shade than he was already wearing. Eli swallowed. He’d never seen
Jersey look that way. His face was pulled back in a mask of anger as his fangs

gleamed in the low lighting. It was truly a horror movie sight.

“I didn’t see anyone here for the past few weeks. I figured the occupant had

deserted the place,” the man confessed, looking between the brothers with wide
eyes.

“So you broke in?” Buck asked as he shook the guy.
“Here!” The guy started turning out his pockets. Eli watched as his

grandfather’s watch fell to the floor along with his grandmother’s earrings. The
little bit of cash he had stuffed under his mattress joined the rest of the items on

the floor.

Eli began to feel sorry for the guy. He was as thin as a rail, and his clothes

were as scraggly as a stray’s. He picked the money up and handed it to the guy.
“You need it more than I do.”

“Seriously?” Buck asked. “He breaks into your apartment and steals from

you and you pay him for that?”

“Let him go, Buck. I know what it’s like to be down on your luck and

desperate,” Eli said as he headed toward his bedroom. He just wanted to pack
and get the hell out of there. His apartment felt foreign to him now. Eli felt as
though he was in someone else’s place, a stranger in his own home.

He grabbed a gym bag from the closet and began to stuff various articles of

clothing into it and then went to the bathroom to grab his personal items. When

the bag was full, Eli grabbed a backpack from the floor.

Next Eli walked around the apartment, grabbing family pictures and

anything else he couldn’t part with. He walked the place twice, making sure he
didn’t leave anything behind. He didn’t want to have a reason to come back to
this dump. When he couldn’t find anything else to shove in his backpack, he
declared that he was finished.

Eli walked into the front room and sat his bags down on the floor next to

the couch. He was surprised to see Buck still holding the guy up by his collar.

What the hell was he waiting for, the cops? Not likely. “Why haven’t you

let him go?”

Buck shrugged, looking unrepentant as he stood there with his fingers

curled into the stranger’s shirt. “Thought maybe you would change your mind
and want to kick his ass.”

Eli sighed as he walked over to Jersey’s brother, smacking at Buck’s hand

repeatedly. Buck acted as though he didn’t want to let the guy go, but finally
relented and released him.

“Take this,” Jersey said as he offered the stranger a business card. “If you

go to that club and ask for Jersey or Buck, we’ll square you away with a decent
meal. On the house,” Jersey added at the last second.

“What the fuck is this?” Buck asked as he ran his hands over his head and

then pointed at the business card in the stranger’s hand. “Why don’t we just
open up a damn bank account for him? Since when do we roll out the red carpet
for thieves?”

“I’m not a thief!” the man yelled and then blushed a deep crimson red.

“Well, except for this place. But I was hungry,” he said, justifying his breaking
and entering.

“Ease up, Buck,” Jersey warned. Eli loved that his mate was backing him

up, taking his side in this. He wasn’t usually charitable, but for some reason,
the man standing in his living room tugged at his humanity strings.

“What’s your name?” Eli asked as he ignored Buck’s grunt of protest.

“Connor,” the man replied. “Are you going to call the cops on me?” he

asked as his eyes darted toward the door.

“Nah, just be careful out there. Some people would rather shoot you first

and then call the cops for breaking into their place,” Eli replied as he bent at the

waist and scooped the watch and earrings from the floor, pushing the items into

his front pocket.

Connor quickly nodded as Jersey ran his hand over the guy’s head. Eli

could only assume Jersey was wiping away any knowledge of vampires from
Connor’s memory.

Connor glanced at the three and then ran for the door. He was gone before

Eli could say another word.

“Why don’t we just hand the guys on the street the club card, open up a free

hotel for them?” Buck mumbled as he grabbed one of Eli’s bags. “Since when
do vampires do all this fucking charity work?” he complained as he walked
outside.

“Is he always this nice?” Eli asked as he grabbed his jacket, Jersey taking

his other bag.

“Believe me, he’s acting mild right now. Buck would do anything to keep

you safe, even give his life, but he isn’t very compassionate when it comes to
criminals. Neither of us are.”

“Then why did you help him?” Eli asked curiously.
Jersey shrugged. “Because you did.”
Eli usually wasn’t charitable to criminals either, but Connor just didn’t fit

the typical criminal stereotype. He looked too damn…innocent. Eli smiled up at

Jersey, leaning in to kiss him. Jersey was turning out to be a keeper. Who knew

the large man had a big heart? He liked that about him.

He broke the kiss when his lungs began to burn, his mate looking dopey

with a big goofy smile on his face.

“Come on. We have a real treat for you.” Jersey winked as he walked

behind Eli, closing the apartment door.

Eli climbed into the front seat once his bags were stored in the trunk. Buck

and Jersey picked up where they left off, as if the scene back in his apartment
hadn’t even occurred. They laughed, sang to some eighties tunes, and wiggled
around like they were dancing—or seizing. Eli hadn’t figured that part out yet.

Chapter Six

Jersey parked the car in front of a very expensive-looking brownstone as he

shut the music off. Eli wasn’t sure where they were, but he felt out of place.
This neighborhood reeked of wealth and money. He glanced around to see the

streets deserted this late, but there were plenty of porch lights lit.

The trees were shedding their fall leaves as the wind blew them around the

sidewalk, making the leaves dance in a strange ballet on the concrete. He

glanced up once more at the house they were parked in front of, wondering why

they were there.

“Don’t be skeard,” Jersey teased as he climbed out of the car and walked

around to Eli’s side, pulling him from his seat.

“Don’t be what?” Eli asked as Buck climbed from the backseat.
“Scared,” Buck answered for Jersey. “Don’t mind my doofus brother. He

watches way too much television.”

The door to the brownstone flew open just then, a very tall and elegant

woman standing there grinning down at the three. “It’s about damn time you
came for a visit. I was beginning to think I’d have to go see the prince to make
an appointment to see my own damn sons.”

Eli’s jaw fell to his chest as he stared up at the woman standing there

looking like a princess. That was Jersey and Buck’s mother? Even though his

taste ran on the depraved side, even Eli could appreciate her stunning beauty.

She was a looker.

“We have jobs now,” Jersey protested as he walked up the steps, embracing

his mother and pecking her on the cheek before turning to face Eli. “And this is
my mate.” He pointed down at Eli, putting the spotlight directly over him.

Eli felt like he should run and hide somewhere. Most mothers thought that

no one was good enough for their son. Why would Jersey’s mother be any
different? If anything, she should be steaming mad right now that her son

presented her with a male.

“Welcome, honey.” She smiled at Eli as he walked up the steps to his

doom. “My name is Marie, since my boys have forgotten their manners.”

“Eli,” he offered quickly. He ran to catch up with Jersey as Marie closed

the front door behind them. Eli’s eyes swept the room, admiring the way
Jersey’s mom had decorated the place.

It was classy, elegant, and every damn thing looked breakable. The living

room was a contrast to the rest of the house. It had oversize couches, lined

bookshelves, blankets tossed over the back of the couches, and two large

recliners sitting in front of a television that had a football game playing on it.

This room looked like a normal home. Eli hurried to Jersey’s side when he

spotted an extremely large man sitting in one of the La-Z-Boys and watching

the game on the television.

“Hey, Pops,” Jersey said as he plopped down on the sofa, pulling Eli down

next to him.

“About damn time you showed your ugly mug around here. I was

beginning to wonder if I had to join Christian’s coven just to see you two.”

“That I would pay good money to see,” Buck said as he dropped down on

the other side of Jersey. Eli could feel the couch bounce as Buck settled. He
glanced over at Jersey’s father to see the man eyeing him curiously. Eli
swallowed. The guy was built like a damn quarterback and just as tall. His own
father didn’t like gay men, and Eli wondered if Jersey’s father was the same
way.

“Oh, hell, sorry,” Jersey said as he threw a heavy arm over Eli’s shoulder.

“Pops, this is my mate, Eli.”

A wide grin broke out across Jersey’s father’s face. “I was beginning to

think you brought a snack home.”

Jersey howled with laughter as Buck grabbed his side, his face turning red

from the fit of laughter erupting from him.

“You know Mom would kill me if I did something like that,” Jersey said as

soon as he gained a small measure of composure.

“Name’s Dominic.” The father reached over and shook Eli’s hand and then

settled back into his chair. “Do you watch football, son?”

Eli sat there stunned. Jersey had just admitted that Eli was his mate, and

Dominic didn’t even bat an eye at the gayness of the declaration. He was
confused as hell as he shook his head. “No, sir.”

“That’s too bad. Aaron Rodgers is having a phenomenal season. I was

hoping for a son-in-law that was a sports fanatic,” Dominic said and then
winked at Eli. “But you’ll do. Ain’t nothing wrong with learning.”

“Aaron Rodgers?”
“Green Bay,” Dominic said as he grunted. “You’ll learn.”
Just then Marie brought in a serving tray. She set it down on the coffee

table and took a seat in the matching La-Z-Boy next to Dominic’s. It was all so

normal around here that Eli was getting nervous. He was a vampire now, mated
to a male. It shouldn’t be so normal. Eli was expecting coffins and candelabras
and creepy organ music.

But June and Ward Cleaver just sat there watching the football game.

How odd.
“Drink up, honey,” Marie said as she waved at the tray with filled cups and

snacks. “I hope you like O negative.”

Eli’s jaw dropped as he looked at the tray and then over at Jersey, who had

grabbed a Pizza Roll from the plate, scarfing it down and then going for

another. Buck bumped Jersey out of the way and grabbed a handful of the tiny

bite-size snacks. Eli wasn’t sure what to do.

“He doesn’t drink crimson, Mom,” Jersey said before popping another

snack-size Pizza Roll into his mouth. “He drinks from the source,” he stated

proudly as if that were something to brag about.

“Well, good for him,” Marie said as she grabbed a glass of crimson and sat

back, crossing her legs and watching the football game. Eli was a little lost. No,

correction, he was so lost that he would need a map back to the conversation.

“Dinner is almost ready,” she said and then turned to Eli. “I’m not sure

what to serve you since you don’t drink crimson. Maybe you can feed from
Jersey while he eats.”

Was she serious? Eli swallowed hard at the idea of crawling onto Jersey’s

lap while everyone sat around the fine china and watched. He could feel his

heart racing out of control as panic started to set in. This was crazy. This was
insane. Eli wasn’t going to do it.

“She’s messing with you, Eli,” Jersey said as he bumped shoulders with

him. “Ma has a really twisted sense of humor.”

Strong relief washed through Eli as he stole a glance at Marie. “Good one,”

he said weakly.

“She is a handful,” Dominic said without looking away from the game.
Was that a compliment or a warning?
“You don’t have a problem with your sons being gay?” The question

slipped out that fast. Eli curled his lips in, but it was too late. The words had

slipped past his lips and were now out there hanging between him and the

room.

In a way, he was relieved to get that question out in the open. If Jersey’s

parents were going to object or protest to Jersey having a man, he wanted to

know. Eli wanted to be where he could witness it. As crazy as it sounded, he

wanted them to talk about him behind his back while he was sitting there.

It made sense to him.
“Yes, I’m well aware that both my sons are gay.”

He had never seen a family so accepting in his life. It was bizarre as hell to

see Dominic wave a hand as if dismissing Eli’s question. His father would

probably be having a heart attack right about now if Buck and Jersey showed

up at his door, let alone if he announced he had a male mate.

Eli waved a hand at Jersey and then at himself. “And that he fucks me up

the ass?” He slapped a hand over his mouth as soon as the words left his lips.
What in the fuck was wrong with him? He had never been more mortified in his

life. Where the hell had that question come from?

Eli had a strong urge to fall back into the cushions and pray they swallowed

him up. He’d never used that kind of language in front of his mother, so why
was he using it in front of Jersey’s? Could he hit the rewind button on the
remote and stop himself from asking that crude question?

Marie was good-natured about it and giggled as Dominic tried to hide the

grin that was spreading across his face. Eli looked over at his mate, watching

him grin as he chewed the snack food.

“That’s, um, well, none of my business. But yes, I’m well aware of that,

too,” Marie replied.

Eli’s face was burning lava hot as he scooted further back, hoping the seat

cushions really did reach out and pull him in. The odd thing was, no one was

paying any attention as Jersey pulled him so close that he was practically sitting
on the man’s lap as everyone watched the game.

It was odd to know that he didn’t have to hide his depraved thoughts here.

No one cared. He settled back, enjoying the feel of his mate’s arms. He still
stole glances at Jersey’s parents after that crazy question. Talk about an
embarrassing moment in life that he wished he could take back.

As he watched the game and felt the normalcy of the moment in this

brownstone house with a vampire mother and a human father, Eli began to
relax in Jersey’s arms.

Maybe he wasn’t a depraved individual after all.

* * * *

Jersey stood at the club door, bouncing. Christian had agreed to Jersey’s

request to take up another gig since the prince and Minsheng hadn’t allowed the
smaller man out of their sight. Jersey loved the physical part of the

job—knocking heads together when the humans, or even some vampires, got

out of control.

It was better than sitting around with his thumb up his ass. Sure, he could

spend all day in bed with Eli, fucking his brains out, but Jersey wanted to be a

little more productive than that.

Although the idea had him hard all the time.

Eli had taken up with Shelby since Yasuko never seemed to be around. The

two became fast friends, and Eli even helped Shelby out when the smaller

vampire had to bus booths up on the second floor.

Christian believed in feeding the humans. He said that they needed their

nutrients replaced after donating to his coven. It kept Eli busy so his mate

wouldn’t go out of his mind with boredom. Eli confessed that he really wasn’t

into the club scene. He had only gone to them to get laid.

That confession shot Jersey’s jealous streak through the roof, but he didn’t

let on to Eli. His past was his to have, but Jersey didn’t have to like it. He
wasn’t all snowy white himself.

“Looks like Eli is finally adjusting,” Harley commented as they both

watched Eli and Shelby bring down a load from the tables upstairs.

“He’s trying.” And that was the honest truth. Eli still had his outbursts, his

insecurities at being himself in front of everyone, but for the most part, he was

cool. He smiled when his mate looked his way, giving Jersey that sweet smile.

“God, you got it bad,” Harley teased as he elbowed Jersey. “I hope no one

has my nose that wide open.”

Jersey glowered at Harley. “Mind your own business.”
“I would if you stopped making googly eyes at him. It’s embarrassing!”
Jersey ignored Harley as he went outside to break up a fight between two

humans who were throwing punches like they meant it. He yanked the men
apart and pushed them in the opposite direction. “Take it somewhere else.”

Jersey turned to walk back to the door where Harley was smiling down at

some blond, when he noticed Mallon. He was smiling smugly and leaning
against Jersey’s car. Not thinking, only reacting, he went after the bastard with
vengeance.

“Jersey, wait!” Harley called, but Jersey wasn’t listening. He couldn’t

understand what the sadistic elder was after by showing up here, but if it was
Eli, Mallon wasn’t going to get anywhere near the man.

He had made his mate a promise, and Jersey didn’t plan on breaking it. Eli

was going to remain safe if Jersey had to kill the bastard with his bare hands.

Jersey barreled forward head-on as he raced to get his hands on the ex-elder

who had whipped every inch of his mate’s body, leaving him for dead in that
damn cavernous room. The same elder who had brought the ghouls into play

and had them bite Eli to within an inch of his life. The same elder that Jersey

was going to kill.

No, he wasn’t going to wait.
Jersey had waited long enough.
A tic started in Jersey’s jaw when he saw Christian appear right before him,

blocking him from getting at Mallon. The prince was after Mallon for the

heinous crimes he committed, but Jersey had a personal ax to grind with the

vampire. A personal vendetta that he wanted to make sure Mallon received.

Mallon saw Christian and vanished, Christian vanishing within seconds

after Mallon disappeared. Jersey shouted out his protest in the parking lot,

kicking his car wheel. He was pissed beyond reason at the injustice of not being

able to get his revenge. He stood there seething before walking back toward the

club.

He glared at Harley, but the vampire didn’t say a word as Jersey passed by

him to go check on his mate. He glanced around the club until his black eyes

locked with hazel ones. Eli was staring at him strangely, as if he could tell

something was troubling Jersey.

Taking a deep breath, Jersey tried to suppress his rage as he headed toward

his mate. The last thing he wanted to do was to scare Eli.

“Is everything okay?” Eli asked as Jersey approached. He knew he hadn’t

totally composed his anger, but he was slowly calming down now that he saw

that Eli was fine.

“I’m cool. Just get excited every time I see you,” he replied as he winked.

He felt like a rat bastard for lying to his mate, but Jersey didn’t want Eli to
know how close Mallon had come to the club. Eli was making progress, and he
didn’t want that ruined because the bastard wanted to play his mind games.

“You look constipated,” Eli said as he sat the tray on the bar. “If that’s

excitement, I hate to see what overjoyed looks like.”

Jersey sighed as he shifted his weight to his other foot. He wanted to

change the subject. Lying to his mate didn’t set well with him, and he didn’t
want to tangle the web any further. “I’m fine, babe. How’s everything going
with Shelby?”

Eli rolled his eyes as he grumbled, “Fine, but the guy has way too much

energy for me. It’s like trying to keep up with the Road Runner.”

Jersey stepped aside as a human saddled up to the bar to order a drink.
“I’m heading back to the door. You know where I am if you need me.” He

hated that his mate worked in the club. Not that Jersey objected to Eli working,
but he hated for anyone to be around his mate. His possessive side hadn’t eased
up now that they were mated, but he wasn’t going to lock Eli away.

Although he had entertained the thought many times.

* * * *

Emilio leaned against the wall by the BDSM hallway. His eyes scanned the

wall of bodies writhing erotically on the dance floor. He had missed this when

he was in the Northern coven being a mole. There was nothing in the world like

seeing the hot, sweaty male bodies undulating, calling to him, begging him to

take a drink.

The Manacle had been a brilliant idea, and he was forever thankful that he

was a part of the prince’s coven. The place was hypnotic, erotic, and a taste of
the forbidden that he loved to indulge in.

Pushing away from the wall, Emilio looped toward a male that was

swiveling his hips as his hands ran up and down his bare chest. Emilio could

see the small brown nipples peaked beyond perfection. His tongue slid across

his fangs as he smiled seductively at the man.

“Christian wants to speak with you,” Christo said from behind him.
Emilio was half tempted to ignore the second-in-command as the

brown-haired beauty’s blazing blue eyes locked onto him. The human cupped

his groin, sliding his fingers up and down the length, begging Emilio to come to

him.

“Now?” he asked in irritation.
“No, at your earliest convenience,” Christo said sarcastically.
Emilio walked over to the stranger, placed his index finger under the

human’s chin and lifted it for a sensual kiss. The man was panting by the time
Emilio broke the kiss. “Don’t go anywhere, love.”

The human nodded obediently as Emilio walked away from his snack. His

cock was rock hard as he walked behind Christo to the prince’s office. This
better be important. Emilio was hankering for a human, and he had one raring

to go.

As he walked into Christian’s office, he noticed Brandon and August

standing by the prince’s desk.

Christian leaned forward, placing his arms on the desk as he nodded

toward the brothers. “Emilio, meet your new charges.”

Chapter Seven

Christian drummed his fingers over his knees as he sat in the chair in his

large living room in the manor. Tonight was the night he had elected to choose

a new elder to replace Mallon. The club was shut down, and the entire coven
was here, along with Dante’s.

It was like a damn social dance in the humans’ high school. His coven

stayed on one side of the room while Dante’s stayed on the other. Members
from each coven kept shooting glares across the room at each other as if they

were rival gangs.

This was ridiculous. They were all of one race, all vampires. Why in the

hell couldn’t they act like it? Christian knew he had to unite them or there were
always going to be problems. In his infinite wisdom, he decided to pair them

up, giving each member of his coven a member of the Northern coven to show

around for the next few days.

If they didn’t kill each other by the third day, maybe his race had a chance.

Christian was tired of the rogues population rising and the unnerving reports he
was getting about them uniting. What he hadn’t announced to anyone yet was
the report he was given about the rogues forming a subcommunity under the
city. He couldn’t understand their motives in doing this. What did they have to
gain from uniting?

If what he was hearing was true, then the vampires needed to put their petty

squabbles behind them and unite against the ones that had taken to the darker

side of vampire living. Christian could see the allure of being a rogue, but he

also knew that a rogue lost his humanity when embracing that life.

He rose from his seat when Savas and Vinicio walked into the manor. The

two elders greeted Christian and then took a seat.

“So who is the newly chosen?” Savas asked as he crossed his legs. “Please

tell me it isn’t that nitwit Gallagher that runs the coven down south.”

Christian was already getting a headache. The elders gossiped worse than

old women in a knitting circle. That was one of the reasons he had fought to

stay away from them.

“You’ll soon find out,” Christian replied. He would rather be in bed with

his mates or even spending time with his new son than listening to the two men

complain about the world of humans and vampires.

He sat back and feigned interest while praying that the induction would

soon start. The newly appointed was due any moment.

A smile tipped the side of his mouth up when Damiano walked into the

manor, self-assured and striding with confidence.

About damn time.
“You chose Damiano?” Vinicio hissed. “Why on earth would you choose

him? He’s arrogant and crass. Dante would have been a wiser choice than that
pompous air bag!”

Christian rolled his eyes. “Are you going to argue my choice?”
Vinicio blustered and grunted, but shook his head. Smart man. Christian

rose to greet Damiano across the room, nodding his head at Christo to get the

induction underway.

* * * *

Eli scratched his head as he stared at the vampire standing in front of him

looking as though he were bored out of his skull. Christian said he had to show

him around and be nice, but hell if he knew what to say. He was still getting his

feet wet in his new life as it were.

“What’s your name again?”

The vampire’s lip curled up as he stared at Eli like he was a twit. “Taras,”

he said slowly, cementing Eli’s belief that the vampire thought him dim-witted.
He wanted to pop the guy a good one in his eye, but that wouldn’t be “uniting
the covens,” as Christian had put it.

He’d like to unite his fist to the guy’s jaw. Taras had done nothing but turn

his nose up at Eli since being paired with him. Eli was ready to tell the guy to

go screw himself until he saw Christian smiling softly at him from across the

living room, giving him a slight nod.

Sighing with resignation, Eli turned to look for Jersey. Maybe he could

dump Taras off on his mate. Eli wasn’t that sociable a person, and dealing with
the vampire’s sucky attitude was pushing his anger closer to the surface.

“Follow me.”
The vampire looked like he’d rather eat coffin nails, but followed behind

Eli anyway as he wove through the crowd toward his mate. Jersey was standing
there looking like Eli’s next breath as he talked with his brother over on the
other side of the room, oblivious to Eli’s mounting rage.

If the dickwick behind him looked at Eli one more time like he was scum

on the bottom of the guy’s shoe, he was going to forget the uniting thing and
knock the vampire on his ass.

His thoughts of kicking Taras’s ass fled as Jersey turned, smiling at him,

making Eli’s heart skip a beat. Eli could feel his chest tightening at what he was
feeling for his mate. Never had he thought to find someone who made him feel

as though the stars in the sky were only for him.

Jersey curved an arm around Eli’s waist and pulled him close as he turned

back to Buck. “That’s what I’m hearing,” he said to his brother. Eli didn’t care
about uniting, rogues, the new elder, or anything else. He was tucked neatly
into Jersey’s arm where he belonged. The rest of the world melted away as he
sighed.

“You brought me over here so you could hug all over him?” Taras asked as

he pointed over at Jersey. “Here I thought we were about to do something
interesting.”

“Friend of yours?” Jersey asked as he glanced from Eli to Taras.
“Hardly,” Eli replied. “He’s the one Christian paired me with.” He noticed

others staring at him, and Eli became uncomfortable. Eli didn’t like attention,
and too many eyes were looking his way. He pulled from Jersey’s arm and

walked toward the bathroom. When Taras followed, Eli threw his hand up.

“Not likely, buddy. This I can do alone.”
Taras narrowed his eyes at Eli as he walked back toward Jersey. He stood

there watching Taras smile and playfully slap Jersey’s arm. Eli was gritting his
teeth by the time he entered the men’s room. He didn’t like poachers, and Taras
was pushing close to the danger zone.

Eli sat on the toilet seat and took a deep breath. He never thought he’d see

the day when he would be able to step out of the closet, but fuck, did it have to

be in front of so many damn people?

He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed his dad’s phone, feeling

a bit homesick.

“About time you called. I was beginning to worry about you.”
Eli smiled at his dad’s deep timbre. It washed away all his worries at the

moment and made him feel like homemade cookies and apple cider. “Hi, Dad.”

“So, where have you been, son? Your mother’s worried sick.” His father’s

tone was gentle, soothing. Eli wanted to break down and cry at that very
moment. He wanted to feel his dad’s arms around him, letting him know that he
wasn’t a failure as a son and that he still loved him although he was mated to
Jersey, a man. He knew that was wishful thinking, but he wanted it so damn

badly that his heart hurt.

“I’ve been busy with some things. I’m sorry I forgot to call you. How is

Mom?”

“Besides worried, she’s fine. Work keeps her busy, and spending time with

Elda.”

Eli smiled. He loved his Aunt Elda. She was zany and bubbly and

downright perfect. He wished he could go home for a visit to see his family, but

Eli was afraid of what his dad would do when he brought Jersey with him.
“Tell them I said hi.”

“Your mom’s having one of her infamous family gatherings this Sunday.

I’m not asking you to be there, I’m telling you. Your mom wants everyone
together,” his dad said and then chuckled. “She thinks your cousin Madeline is
pregnant so she’s running around here like she’s the one becoming a
grandmother.”

Eli laughed. “I’m glad Madeline and Sam finally got it right.”
“Me, too. Elda is excited about being a grandmother. She’s going on and on

about it. Just warning you.”

Great. That meant his mom would be all over him about settling down and

producing a grandbaby. Eli scratched at the leg of his jeans as he stared at his

shoes. He knew there was no way he was giving his mother a grandchild. He

felt like he was letting his family down. He wiped at his eyes as he cleared his
throat. “I’ve gotta go, Dad. Tell Mom I love her.”

“Stay safe, son. I’ll see you Sunday. You can tell me then why you just up

and disappeared.”

Eli nodded as he hung up, dropping the phone in his lap as he cried. He was

in the bathroom, so he didn’t have to worry about anyone seeing him. He
unrolled a few blocks of toilet paper and blew his nose as the hard lump bobbed

in his throat. Eli would do anything to please his father, but he knew that
marrying a female wasn’t in the cards.

He stood and turned, looking in the mirror at his red nose and puffy eyes.

Gah, Jersey was going to know right away that Eli had been crying. He turned

the tap on, splashing cool water over his face. It was no use. His face was a

dead giveaway.

Eli cracked the bathroom door open, looking out into the throng of

vampires mulling around. He so did not want to go back to that. Slipping from

the bathroom, Eli made his way to the front door. He needed fresh air. There

was no way he was going to let Jersey see him like this. He looked and felt like
shit, and his night didn’t seem to be getting any better. He knew a lot of people
were worse off than him, but Eli still struggled with his new life.

Once outside, Eli leaned against the side of the house. It felt good to be out

in the open, away from the crowd, so he could have a moment to think. If

Jersey only knew how hard it was to keep it together sometimes. Eli might put

on a brave face, but most of the time he was completely lost. This new life
wasn’t exactly a walk in the park. He never knew there were so many damn
rules in a vampire society.

From the movies, Eli had thought that they lived in coffins and lurked in

back alleys, draining their victims before moving on. Fuck, there was an entire

society with rules and repercussions and politics. He was starting to wish they

did live in coffins and lurked in back alleys. This shit was complicated.

Tucking his hands behind his back, Eli leaned his head against the house.

His tongue played over his dental work as he wondered what it would be like to

actually go out there and bite an unsuspecting victim. He had drunk from Jersey
and only Jersey since his rebirth and wondered if everyone’s blood tasted the
same.

Was it the taste of blood or the allure of being able to make people submit

and give themselves over? He kicked his toe against the concrete as he stared

off into the maze of cars parked out back. Eli wondered if he walked down to

the streets right now and bit someone, would they let him?

Fuck, he was beginning to think like a damn vampire. He had gone from

being grossed out by even the thought of drinking blood to wanting to know

what others tasted like. How screwed up was that?

“There you are.”
Eli glanced up to see Jersey walking toward him. The man was truly

handsome. Even his walk made Eli want to get naked and beg at his feet. He

looked in the opposite direction, unsure if his face was still swollen from

crying.

“Is something wrong?” Jersey’s voice was filled with concern as he

stopped next to Eli. Eli wanted to tell him everything, his fears, his worries, his

feeling of ineptness, and the way he missed his family, but nothing came out.

All he could do was shake his head and stare at the line of cars.

Jersey stepped into his line of sight, tilting Eli’s head back with his

knuckle. His brows pulled down tight as he tilted Eli’s head from side to side.
“You’ve been crying.”

And then some.
“It’s just a little overwhelming.” He confessed a small part of what was

going on with him. Overwhelming didn’t even cover it. There were moments
when he felt like everything around him was falling apart, and he couldn’t even
gather the pieces up quickly enough.

“Anything I can do to help?” Jersey asked. He stayed a foot away from Eli,

giving him his space but not too much, which Eli appreciated. Jersey seemed to

be the only rock-solid thing in his life right now. Jimmy was his best friend, but

his best friend was preoccupied these days with Nija.

Not that he blamed the guy. Nija was smoking hot. But no man came close

to Jersey’s good looks. He shook his head as he glanced up at Jersey. “Nah, I’m
good.” And he was feeling better now that Jersey was standing next to him.

“You know I’m here for you if you need anything, even someone to talk

to.”

Eli nodded. He knew that. He just wasn’t used to confiding in anyone. He

didn’t even tell Jimmy half of the stuff that happened in his life. “You ever feel
so lost that you didn’t know where to go?”

Jersey leaned against the wall next to him, tucking his hands behind him in

the same manner that Eli had his. “Most of my life. I may act as though I know
what I’m doing half the time, but not really.

I rely heavily on my brother.”

“I’m an only child,” Eli pointed out.
“You can borrow Buck. He’s great. You can even borrow me. I’m a good

listener. I can’t say that I’ll have the solution, but sometimes people are just
looking for someone to listen to them. Try me.” Jersey bumped shoulders with
Eli as he crossed his ankles.

Could he? Could Eli tell Jersey the thoughts that ran through his head half

the time? Eli cleared his throat, staring off at the cars again, unable to look at
Jersey as he spoke. “Ever since I was old enough to notice the opposite sex, my
eyes wandered toward the quarterback or the guy sitting next to me. I always
thought something was wrong with me.”

Jersey squatted down, grabbing a few pebbles and tossing them away from

him as he listened.

“My dad has made it known that he doesn’t like gay men, but he’s been a

great dad, a real strong man that has always shown me that he loved me. I feel
like I let him down.” It felt good to finally tell someone, yet to hear the words
aloud made Eli realize just how much of a disappointment he truly was to his

father.

“It kind of happened the same way for me,” Jersey said. “I was

homeschooled because I couldn’t be out in the daylight, but when I fed, my
desires went more toward feeding from men. I was terrified to tell my dad.”

“Really?” Eli asked as he scooted down with Jersey. “How did you get the

courage to tell him?”

Jersey chuckled. “I didn’t. Buck told him. He noticed that I only fed from

guys and put two and two together. I was mad at him for the longest time for
outing me like that. My dad wasn’t thrilled about it at first, especially when
Buck came out as well, but he learned to deal with it. Now it’s no big deal. I’ve
realized that I can’t live through my parents. At the end of the day, what
matters most is that this is my life, and I have to live it the way that makes me

happy. And being mated to you makes me happy.”

“This is the first time I’ve openly been with a guy. It’s scary. I feel like

everyone is watching me, judging me.” He knew he shouldn’t care what other
people thought. As Jersey said, at the end of the day, it was his life. But Eli
hadn’t been happy hiding who he was. As a matter of fact, he had been
downright miserable.

“As big as I am, I was scared,” Jersey admitted. That revelation stunned

Eli. Jersey looked like he didn’t care what people thought of him. His mate
seemed so self-confident. “But I walked out of the closet and haven’t looked
back. If you want, I can help. I’ve been there and know what you’re going
through.”

“I’d like that. Thank you,” Eli said.
Jersey stood, holding his hand out. Eli took it, pulling himself up as Jersey

closed him into his arms. He knew he could do this. As scary as it was, with

Jersey helping him along the way, he could do this.

“That was so sweet. I think I may cry.”
Eli gasped as Jersey spun around, his body blocking Eli’s. It was the man

that had kidnapped him from behind the bar that Jimmy used to work at, The

Cave. He began to tremble as thoughts of that night came flooding back into his

mind.

The guy had lured him outside the bar with promises of showing Eli a good

time. He had been stupid and trusting. All his alarm bells had rung that night
when he looked into the guy’s eyes, but Eli had ignored them and followed the
man out into the alley anyway.

He didn’t remember much after that except when he was woken up with a

whip cutting into his body. Maybe it was the sight of the stranger, but every last
scar that remained on Eli began to hurt. His fingers curled into Jersey’s shirt as
he shook badly.

“Mallon. You just keep coming back to get your ass spanked,” Jersey

sneered as he took a step back, pushing Eli into the wall. “Why don’t you go
play with your fucking ghouls and get the hell out of here?”

The man took a step forward, his eyes cold and void of any emotion as he

jerked his chin toward Eli. “I’d much rather pick up where I left off with him.”

Chapter Eight

Buck looked around the living room noticing that he had not seen Jersey in

a while. That little ass annoying Taras kept following him around, trying to flirt
with Buck. The guy wasn’t his type, and was arrogant as hell.

Buck could tell that fucking Taras would be a bad decision, so he tried

fruitlessly to stay away from the punk.

It wasn’t like his brother to shuck his responsibilities. Even though

Christian had appointed Eli to babysit the shit, Jersey wouldn’t be too far.
Besides, he hadn’t seen Eli either. Where in the fuck were they?

“Problem?” Isla asked.
Yeah, there was a problem. His little brother wasn’t anywhere in the place.

His eyes kept searching the crowd. Normally he wouldn’t have thought
anything of Jersey’s disappearance. The guy liked going out to feed on his own.
But his brother was mated now, and this was an important night. Jersey
wouldn’t have taken off. “Have you seen Jersey or Eli?”

Isla shook his head. “Not in a while.”
Their eyes locked and then Buck cursed. Something had to be wrong for his

brother not to be here. Buck and Isla headed for the front door, going in search

of Jersey and his mate.

* * * *

Jersey was trying his best to get his heart rate under control. It wouldn’t do

him any good for Mallon to know how truly scared he was. Not for himself, but

for Eli. His mate had made some progress, and he feared seeing Mallon would

unravel Eli and make him spiral back down into his combative ways. Facing his

attacker might be too much for his mate right now. He was still too new at all
of this, his vampire life, his acceptance of who he truly was. He didn’t need this
added bullshit.

He hissed and bared his fangs when the crazy bastard took a step closer.
“Am I supposed to be frightened of you?” Mallon snapped, looking

irritated at being denied Eli. “Hand him over.”

“Are you fucking serious?” Jersey asked as he pressed his back into Eli’s

smaller frame. He wanted to rip the vampire’s throat out but was afraid to
leave his mate’s side. He didn’t trust the crazy bastard in the least.

For all he knew, this could very well be a trap. Jersey had wondered why

Mallon kept coming around, and now he knew. Eli. But what he couldn’t figure
out was why he wanted Eli. His mate had been a pawn in his evil plans, no one

special to Mallon. So why did he keep coming back for him?

He cocked his head slightly when he saw Shelby peeking at them from

behind the house. That was all he needed right now. Defending Eli was enough.
He didn’t need to add Shelby to the mix. He quickly cut his eyes back to
Mallon. He didn’t want the vampire to know that Shelby was close.

An evil grin tilted the sides of Mallon’s lips. His eyes cut over to Shelby

and then back at Jersey. “Maybe I’ve found a new play toy,” he said as he
tipped his head toward the back of the house. “Come on out, young one. Come
play with us.”

“Get back in the house!” Jersey shouted, but it was too late. Mallon was

fast as fuck as he appeared at Shelby’s side in under a millisecond. The small
vampire’s eyes widened as he stared at Jersey, pleading for him to do
something. Jersey wasn’t going to let Mallon take Shelby. He had seen the
man’s handiwork, and he wasn’t going to have Shelby be his next victim.

“Let him go, Mallon,” Jersey said in a low and threatening voice. He was

tired of these games. Why couldn’t the vampire do everyone a solid and off
himself? It would make life so much simpler for everyone.

“Or what?” Mallon asked in a maliciously teasing tone. “What can you do

to me?”

“Nothing.” Jersey smirked when he saw the three elders standing behind

Mallon. “But they can.”

Mallon hissed and twirled around, releasing Shelby as he fought the three

vampires. Jersey shot forward and grabbed Shelby, thrusting him behind his

back as he watched the fight. As impossible as it was, Mallon was winning.

The elders fought viciously, all three coming at Mallon at the same time,

surrounding him, caging him in, and then Mallon disappeared, disseminated

right before their very eyes. The three elders disappeared as well, giving chase.

“Get them inside,” Buck shouted from behind him.
Jersey turned to see his brother and Isla heading his way. He tossed Shelby

at Buck as he grabbed Eli and ran for it. He wasn’t taking any chances where
his mate was concerned. The three elders had this. There really wasn’t more he
could do.

He growled low when he walked through the front door and saw Taras

heading his way. He really didn’t need this shit right now. The vampire’s
nostrils were flared as he stomped his way over to Jersey and Eli.

“Where have you been? Some host you’re turning out to be!”
Jersey counted to ten before he did something very bad to the vampire. He

had enough of vampires with nasty attitudes for one night. He ignored the

indignant man and walked his mate downstairs, straight to his bedroom. Eli
hadn’t said a word and that worried Jersey, but first he needed to get his mate
someplace safe.

He closed his bedroom door, locking it before turning back to his mate. Eli

stood there in a daze, a strange expression on his face. Jersey wasn’t sure what
he should do. “You know I’ll never let him get his hands on you, right?”

Eli blinked a few times and then seemed to snap out of whatever daze he

had been in. He looked around the room, his eyes settling on his stuff that he
had brought from the apartment that they still hadn’t put away. Eli then looked
up at Jersey, a smile spreading across his face. Jersey wasn’t sure if he should
be relieved or nervous. Was his mate okay, or was he at the beginning of a

nervous breakdown?

Jersey slowly guided Eli over to their bed, setting his mate down on the

side of it as he walked to the bathroom to get a cold cloth. When he came back,

he saw that Eli had relaxed a few degrees, but was still sitting stiffly.

“I’m fine,” Eli said, but his body language belied his nonchalant words. He

ran the cloth over the back of Eli’s neck. He wasn’t sure why he was doing that,
but he remembered Buck doing it once to him when Jersey had freaked out in

his teenage years after his first sexual encounter with a man. If his mate only

knew that they had walked the same paths when it came to revealing who they

truly were. They had more in common than his mate knew.

“Feeling better?” he asked as he pulled the cloth away and chucked it

toward the bathroom.

“It’s just a little shocking,” Eli confessed as he pushed further back onto the

bed. “To face the man who had…”

“I know.” Jersey pulled Eli close, cradling his mate in his arms. “Just

remember that you survived and I won’t let anyone else hurt you.”

Jersey could hear Eli’s erratic pulse as he wrapped his arms tightly around

his mate. There were times in a man’s life when he felt helpless, powerless to
stop someone he loved from hurting within. This was one of those times. Eli’s
pain wasn’t a physical being that he could slay and make everything better. It
was something within himself that he had to come to terms with, and the only

thing that Jersey could do was be there for him when Eli finally let go.

He didn’t know what it was like to be kidnapped from the street, whipped

and bitten until he no longer resembled a man, broken until he no longer
wanted to live. No, this was one time Jersey couldn’t identify with his mate.
And that was where the helplessness came in.

Eli tilted his head back, his eyes haunted, lost, as he took a deep breath. He

leaned forward, placing a kiss on Eli’s lips. It started off slow, gentle,
comforting, but soon turned into something that made Jersey’s heart rocket. He
wasn’t sure if Eli was trying to use sex as a way to cope or if it was even the
right thing to do. But Jersey was out of his depth and gave in to whatever Eli

needed to plant his feet firmly on the ground once more.

He opened wide, letting Eli take the lead, letting his mate show him what

he needed. Eli snaked a hand up Jersey’s shirt, leaving a blazing trail
everywhere it touched. Fire licked at his skin as Eli whimpered into his mouth,

pushing Jersey back onto the bed.

Whatever his mate needed to lose that lost look, Jersey would do. He hated

seeing Eli so troubled, so tortured. He wanted to erase his pain. Eli’s hand
yanked at Jersey’s shirt until he pulled it up and off, tossing it aside as Eli’s
hands skimmed over his hard chest, appraising it, licking his lips.

His cock thickened in his jeans as Eli’s body spread out over Jersey’s, their

legs lining up as Eli began to nibble at his stiff nipples. Jersey spread his legs,

allowing Eli to fall into the apex of his thighs as his hands ran over the soft
brown spikes of Eli’s hair. Jersey groaned as Eli traced his tongue around his
nipple, making him shiver as he lay there.

It had been a very long time since a lover had taken him to bed, shown him

the way. Jersey traced his fingers under Eli’s jaw as his mate nursed on his
flesh. His breath was becoming ragged as Eli leaned back and tossed his shirt
aside. Their bare chests rubbed together as Eli leaned up, taking Jersey’s mouth
once again.

Jersey hitched his hips, knocking their groins together as his hands

smoothed down Eli’s back and cupped his ass. He felt Eli’s warm body against
his, his cock just as hard as Jersey’s.

His head spun when Eli bit into his flesh right above his heart, drinking

from him as his lips sealed around the wound. His cock nearly exploded as Eli
drank. His hands fumbled to get their jeans off as his mate’s fangs sank deeper.
He wasn’t sure how much longer he would last with Eli feeding from his heart.

Jersey managed to kick his jeans off and then pushed Eli’s down his thighs.

The slap of his mate’s cock against his leg made Jersey’s skin hum to life. As
Jersey gazed down at his mate, a hazy sensuality filled Eli’s eyes. Eli licked the

wound closed and kicked his pants the rest of the way off, freeing him.

“I want…” Eli glanced down at Jersey’s groin as a blush crept across his

face. Jersey knew what his mate wanted. It was exactly what he wanted. To be

fucked by this gorgeous man. Jersey reached over into the drawer and slapped
the bottle of lube into Eli’s hand and then spread his legs.

Eli’s eyes widened and then hooded. Jersey could see the raw, burning

passion in his mate’s eyes. His cock was hard and leaking against his stomach

as he swallowed, watching Eli pour some lube onto his fingers and then set the

bottle down. He scooted closer on his knees, his hand disappearing between
Jersey’s legs, and then he felt wet fingers at his hole.

“Have you ever done this before?” He knew his mate was well hidden in

the closet before Jersey pulled him out, so he wasn’t sure how much
experimenting Eli had done. His chest tightened when Eli shook his head, his

fingers continuing to circle Jersey’s hole, teasing it, as if he were afraid to

breach him.

Jersey solved that problem. He pushed down on Eli’s fingers, feeling the

cool wetness enter him. Jersey groaned as Eli gasped. His hand stilled, his eyes

fixed on where his fingers were embedded in Jersey’s ass. Jersey smiled as he

pulled back and then slid down his

mate’s fingers again.

“Add another one,” he instructed.
Eli’s gulp was audible as he slid a third finger in beside the two that were

already deep inside Jersey. He bit his bottom lip at the sting and burn as his

eyes rolled back. It had been so damn long. He had forgotten how good it felt

for his ass to be invaded. His cock jerked and a spurt of pre-cum shot out when

Eli grazed his walnut-shaped gland.

“I’m ready. Fuck me.”
Eli gave a slight nod as he pulled his hand free. He looked like he was

about to pass out. Jersey growled. He shot up, tossing Eli to the bed, and then

climbed onto his lap, careful not to let his full weight crush his mate.

He lifted his hips, grabbed Eli’s cock, and then guided himself onto the

hard shaft, slowly impaling himself.

“Oh my god!” Eli shouted as Jersey bottomed out. That was exactly how

Jersey felt as he leaned forward and rested his hands on the headboard. He

pulled his lower half forward and then pushed back. The feeling was
indescribable as he rode Eli’s cock.

Eli seemed to snap out of his daze as he placed his hands on Jersey’s sides

and began to thrust upward, shoving his cock deeply into Jersey’s ass.

“That’s it, baby. Fuck me.” Jersey shifted, making sure his weight wasn’t

fully on his mate.

“Like this?” Eli asked with a bit of teasing in his voice as he rocketed into

Jersey.

“Fuck, yeah.” Jersey looked down to see his mate smiling up at him, his

sharp fangs gleaming in the low lighting. Hell if he wasn’t a stunning sight. No
man would ever look better than Eli lying under him. And Jersey wouldn’t find
out either because Eli was it for him. “Harder, Eli.”

Eli planted his feet on the bed, his hips snapping at an incredible speed as

he fucked Jersey’s puckered hole, showing him he knew what the hell he was
doing. Jersey’s neck muscles strained as he tried his best not to come so soon,
but it wasn’t working as he felt the heat building in his lower back.

“Eli, I—”
“Do it,” Eli growled as he thrust harder into Jersey. His fingers curled into

the headboard as his head fell back onto his shoulders. Jersey cried out Eli’s
name as his hot seed spilt onto his mate’s chest and neck.

“Goddamn,” Eli cried out as he slammed a few more times into Jersey’s

ass, and then on the third upward stroke, he pushed his cock deep as he
stiffened, his cum bathing Jersey’s insides.

Jersey held on to the headboard as sweat glistened on his skin. He was

trying his best to catch his breath as Eli moaned while pulling free.

“That was—”
“Yeah,” Jersey said as he caught his breath. “I know.” He rocked back on

his heels as Eli stared up at him, his eyes shining brightly. He wasn’t sure what
his mate was thinking at the moment, but he swore he saw love in his eyes.

“We better get back to the party,” he said as he rolled from the bed. It was

on the tip of his tongue to tell his mate he loved him, but Jersey wasn’t sure if
this was the right time. Eli had been through so much that he didn’t want to

scare him away.

He bent at the waist, placing a soft kiss on Eli’s lips before getting dressed.

Jersey could see the war inside Eli from the expression on his face, but he
didn’t push to ask. Eli would talk to him when he was ready.

They joined the others as the induction turned into a party that had started

to dwindle down with only a few people left in the living room. One of them

being Taras.

“I swear you are the worst host ever!” he complained as soon as he saw Eli.

“We are supposed to be uniting, and the only thing you’ve managed to do is
unite you and your boyfriend here.” Taras waved his hand at Jersey.

Jersey counted to twenty before he ended up strangling the little brat. Taras

had been nothing but a pain in the ass all evening, and Jersey was that close to
wrapping his fingers around the guy’s neck.

“I’m sorry,” Eli apologized as they walked closer. “I have been rude.

Maybe tonight I can show you around?”

“Forget it!” Taras said in a snit. “The prince has already assigned another

person for me to unite with. Thanks for your hospitality.”

Jersey’s fingers curled in as they itched. The guy was getting closer to that

strangling with every word that fell from his lips. He grabbed his mate and

walked away before the Northern coven was one less, but Eli stopped Jersey.

“Who did the prince assign you to?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but Shelby,” Taras said as he stomped

off like a true pain in the ass.

“Oh no,” Eli said as he glanced up at Jersey. “It’s my fault Shelby is about

to be tortured.”

Jersey was going to have to keep an eye on Taras and make sure the little

hellion didn’t cause Shelby any grief. He felt bad that Taras was given Shelby
as his guide, but it was safer than keeping him.

He knew that if he stayed one more minute in Taras’s presence that the guy

would have been taught a lesson in manners, and not in a polite way either.

Chapter Nine

Harley was agitated as hell as he lifted his hand to scrub a human couple’s

minds as they passed him, heading out of the club. He’d been standing there all

night, no break, and he was hungry as fuck.

Isla and Christo were in the back room indulging in adficio venatus, a game

where the two vampires took turns biting a human, each trying to be the one to

make the human have an orgasm at his bite. Harley was supposed to be in on

the game, but he was stuck at the door bouncing. Emilio should have been here

to relieve him by now, but he saw the fucker sneak off into a back room with

some human.

“This is all you do?”
That was another thing that irritated the hell out of Harley. What was with

the uniting thing? He didn’t need a lackey following him around, getting all up

in his business like that. His brows drew together in an angry frown as he

rounded on the vampire. “Go find something else to do if this work is too
demeaning for you.”

“Fine, whatever,” the vampire said as he walked away in a huff. Whatever.

Harley was relieved to have the guy gone. He felt like he could relax now, but

he was still hungry as hell. He gave a quick jerk of the chin to Vaughn as the

vampire walked past him.

“What’s up?” Vaughn asked as he walked over to Harley.
“I need you to man the door. I’m hungry as hell.”
Vaughn nodded as he took Harley’s place. About damn time. He made a

beeline toward the back hallway that held the rooms for the BDSM action,

wondering which room Isla and Christo had chosen to use when he saw Shelby

running from one of the rooms, red tears staining his cheeks.

Harley immediately stopped in his tracks and grabbed Shelby by the arm,

stopping him from running out into the throng of dancers. “What’s wrong?”

Shelby shot a glance back toward the room he had just escaped from, his

entire body shaking under Harley’s hand. “I—”

Just then Taras walked out of the room Shelby had come from, an evil grin

on his face. Harley saw red as Shelby’s body damn near shook apart under his
hand. “What happened?” He repeated the question.

“Nothing,” Taras sneered at Shelby. “He’s too damn chicken.”
Harley bent closer to Shelby, putting his ear close. “Tell me what

happened, Shelby,” he said gently as his eyes bore through Taras.

“He t–tried to tie me down to one of the tables and said all kinds of things

to me, promises of what he was going to do.”

“I didn’t touch you!”
“He’s lying,” Shelby said softly into Harley’s ear. That was all Harley

needed to hear. Any other vampire, he would have questioned who was telling
the truth, but he knew for a fact that Shelby wouldn’t lie about something like
this.

He grabbed Taras before he could take off, forcing his hands behind his

back. “We’ll let the prince decide who is lying,” Harley said low and
menacingly into his ear. He disappeared from the hallway, reappearing in
Christian’s office, Shelby right next to him, worrying his hands.

Christian must have taken in the scene, Shelby with red tears running

down his cheeks as Harley bent the bastard’s arms behind his back. He stood
and walked from behind his desk, his eyes snapping between all three.

The prince didn’t say a word as he laid his hand on Taras’s head. His eyes

began to narrow as his fangs showed off their lethality in the light. “This is not
how I intended for us to unite. We do not force anyone in this club!”

Harley bent Taras’s arms back as Christian confirmed Harley’s belief that

Shelby had been telling the truth. He wanted to rip the bastard’s arms off but
stopped himself from exacting revenge. Harley knew Christian wouldn’t fault
him for it, though.

“Since he has offended you, Shelby, you name the punishment,” Christian

said as he backed away. Harley could see murder in the prince’s eyes. They
both wanted to play pull the limbs off of Taras, but it was Shelby’s choice.

The smaller vampire looked horrified as he shook his head back and forth.

“I can’t do that.”

“It is an order,” Christian replied gently.
Harley, as well as everyone else in the coven, knew Shelby was a

nonviolent person. The small vampire was a people pleaser, not used to giving

any commands.

“T–Tie him up outside?” Shelby asked nervously. Harley could tell the

vampire didn’t want to be the one making the decision. He looked like he was
about to be sick.

Harley pulled Taras from the room before another word was spoken. He

yanked the vampire through the club, the bastard shouting about the injustice of

it all. If he wanted justice, he should have been born human. He might have

gotten away with it then.

* * * *

Eli paced back and forth in Christian’s office. He couldn’t believe that

Shelby was almost harmed because he had shucked his responsibility. It was

eating away at him. He wanted to go find Taras and pound the snot out of him.

“It’s all my fault,” he mumbled for the hundredth time. “If I hadn’t pushed

the guy away, Christian wouldn’t have passed him off to Shelby.”

Jersey sighed loudly as he came up behind Eli and held him tight. “It’s no

one’s fault but Taras’s. No one could have predicted what would happen, not
even the prince. He’s chewing nails over this. Dante swore that Taras would be
dealt with harshly as soon as he was finished with his punishment from
Shelby.”

Eli turned in Jersey’s arms. “I still can’t believe he made Shelby dole out

the punishment. He was already dealing with enough.”

“Yeah, but having Shelby name his attacker’s punishment gave him back

some of the control he lost. It’s twisted logic, but I don’t question Christian.
He’s been around for a very long time. I’m sure he knows what he’s doing.”

Still, Eli wanted to go find Shelby and make sure he was okay. The guilt

was eating him up inside. He pulled from Jersey’s arms as he headed toward
the door. “I’m going to find Shelby.”

He walked through the club until he spotted the short man talking to

Yasuko. The two seemed to be deep in conversation as he approached. Eli had
never held a conversation with the man before, and wasn’t sure what to say to
the small prince. The guy looked odd without the baby attached to him.

Shelby’s eyes lit up as soon as he spotted Eli heading his way. Eli took a

seat at the booth on the second floor of the club. “How are you feeling?”

Biting his bottom lip, Shelby gave a slight nod. “Better.”
“Look, I wanted to apologize to you.”
“For what?” Shelby asked as he looked at Eli questioningly.
God, this was hard. “It’s my fault. If I hadn’t left Taras hanging, then

Christian wouldn’t have reassigned him to you.”

Shelby looked even more confused. “But you didn’t make Taras attack me,

so how is it your fault?”

It was the same thing Jersey had said, but Eli still felt like he was the one

who had caused this.

“He was hitting on me the moment he walked through the door. If you had

still been uniting with him, I have a feeling he would have done it anyways.

That man is bad news,” Shelby said as he gave a full body shiver. “One man’s
evil is not your fault, Eli. Some people are just bad seeds.”

Eli guessed that made sense. “Thanks,” he said around a chuckle. “You

make it sound so black and white.”

Shelby shrugged as he grinned. “It is.”

As he sat forward, Eli could see Jersey looking up at him from the bar. His

mate quickly glanced away, as if hiding the fact that he was watching them

closely. Eli grinned as he excused himself and walked down the steps.

“Spying?”
“Who, me?” Jersey asked as he laid the palm of his hand on his chest.

“Never.”

Eli shook his head as he took a seat next to his mate. “So, I was wondering

if we could blow this Popsicle stand and get out for a while?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” Jersey said and then whistled for his brother.
“What about Yasuko?” Eli asked as he looked up at the second floor of the

club where Yasuko and Shelby were chatting away.

“Shit,” Jersey cursed. “I’ll be right back.”
Eli watched as Jersey ran up the steps, scooped Yasuko up from his seat,

and then raced down the steps with him, carrying him toward Christian’s office.
He smiled at his mate. Jersey might look big and badass, but he was a little kid
inside. Eli realized that he didn’t want to hide who he was around anyone any
longer. He was proud to be mated to Jersey, and it was about damn time he

started showing it.

He knew he had a trip to make.

Jersey came back down the hall looking winded as he waved at Eli. Buck

joined them at the door as they walked outside. “Where to?”

“I’ll give you directions,” Eli said as he waited for the brothers to climb

into the car. There was no way he was getting in first. When the car
straightened, Eli climbed into the passenger’s seat. He settled back as Jersey
started the car. His mate popped his CD in, and then the music filled the car.

Eli gave his mate the directions and then settled back. He wasn’t in the

mood to dance around like a fool tonight. Butterflies were flapping around

inside of him as he began to sweat.

This was it.

Was he really going to do it? Eli fisted his hands in his lap as he watched

the houses fly past him, taking him closer to his destination. He wasn’t sure if
his mate could feel his mood or not, but Jersey had left Eli alone to his

thoughts, which he was thankful for. Buck hadn’t even bothered him.

As they turned the corner, Eli’s heart began to beat faster and harder in his

chest. He rubbed his palms down the length of his jeans as Jersey pulled the
car over to the curb and cut the engine. “So, where are we?”

Eli glanced over at the front door. It seemed ominous as he sat there

wondering if he really had the nerve. The living room light was on, casting a
soft glow across the front lawn. “My parents’.”

Jersey turned the stereo off as he turned in his seat, glancing out of Eli’s

window. “I’m not sure what’s going on, but you don’t have to go in there if you
don’t want to,” Jersey said quietly.

Eli glanced at Jersey, giving him a soft smile as his hand played over the

door handle. “My dad has voiced his opinion about gay people, and it wasn’t
polite.”

Jersey stiffened next to him as he looked to the backseat and then down at

Eli. “Whatever you want to do, I’m behind you. I just want you to know that.”

Eli curled his fingers around the handle, knowing he had Jersey if his father

disowned him. It felt good knowing that he had Jersey even if his father forgave

him, too. He nodded as he pushed the car door open and stepped out onto the

tree lawn. He stood there taking a deep breath as the brothers joined him by his

side.

Taking his first step toward the unknown, Eli walked the brick walkway

until he stood on the porch. He raised his hand, his stomach knotting as he rang

the doorbell. His body was slightly shaking as the temperature inside of him

rose a few degrees.

He usually just walked into his parents’ home, but having two large

strangers with him might frighten his parents.

The front door swung open, his father smiling widely at him until his eyes

wandered to Jersey and Buck. “Is something wrong, son?”

Everything was wrong, but Eli knew he had to do this. He was tired of

hiding. He was tired of feeling dirty and perverted for what he felt inside. “I
came to talk to you, Dad. This is Jersey and Buck,” he said as he waved a hand
to each brother and then turned to Jersey. “This is Carl, my dad.”

They shook hands as his dad took a step back to allow them in. Eli glanced

around his childhood home. It wasn’t decked out like the manor was, but it was
lived-in, well furnished, and a place that had brought fond memories to him
every time he stepped through the door. Eli prayed that wasn’t about to change.

His mother walked into the living room, smiling at Eli and then the

brothers. “I wish you would have told me that you were coming with
company.”

Eli glanced up at his mom, giving her a small smile as he sat down next to

Jersey, taking his large hand in his. His dad stared at the action, saying nothing.

“Dad, I know your viewpoint on gay people, but I feel you have a right to

know that I’m gay.” Eli wasn’t sure how to start the conversation off, so he put
the truth out there and then held his breath.

Jersey gave his hand a light squeeze as Eli’s entire insides quivered. His

dad sat there, not saying a word as he continued to stare at Eli and Jersey’s

joined hands. His mom leaned closer to his dad, placing her hand on his thigh

as she smiled at Eli.

Buck fidgeted next to him. He knew the brothers were uncomfortable and

Eli hated bringing them here without fully disclosing what was going on, but he
didn’t want either of them talking him out of this. He had to make a stand and
be who he was.

His dad stood and walked out of the living room, still not saying one single

word. Eli felt the tears fighting to fall, but he swallowed a few times, keeping
them at bay. It hurt like hell that his dad hadn’t accepted who he was. He felt a
small part of him die as he watched his father walk from the room.

Memories of his dad teaching him how to throw a football in the front yard

or teaching him how to drive played in his mind. His dad had been the one to

teach him how to fish, taking him along on his long fishing weekend trips.

They had been close like a father and son should be, and he had let his father

down.

Eli wanted to run to his dad and beg him for forgiveness, but being gay

wasn’t a choice and Eli needed to accept who he was. He swallowed hard as he
stood on shaky legs, pulling Jersey up with him. “I think we should go.”

His mother stood, walking across the room. Eli braced himself for curse

words or even a slap across the face. He was stunned when his mother hugged
him. “I always knew,” she whispered into his ear. “Give him time.”

She further shocked him by hugging Jersey and then Buck. “You boys are

always welcome here.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Jersey said as he led Eli outside.
Eli turned back toward the door, looking at his mom. “Tell Dad I’m sorry I

failed him, but I tried to be the best son possible. He’s the best dad, and if he
doesn’t forgive me, tell him I still love him.”

Eli turned, feeling like he was walking down a long and lonely road as his

feet carried him to the car. A part of him was still sitting in his parents’ home as
Jersey and then Buck climbed into the car.

“Eli?”
He spun around to see his dad standing in the driveway, his hands shoved

in his front pockets. Eli glanced over at Jersey, who had climbed back out, his

arms resting on the roof. Feeling like a man walking to his execution, Eli

crossed the yard, stopping a few feet away from his dad.

“I don’t understand,” his father said as he looked over at the bushes that sat

nestled closely to the house. He looked just as lost and confused as Eli felt at

the moment. He wanted to reach out, but was afraid his father would reject him.

“I know.”
“I—” His dad let out a long breath and then cleared his throat. “I don’t

know what to say.”

“Me either,” Eli admitted. “I’m still the son you raised, the same Eli that

looks up to you and loves you more than anything.”

His dad gave a slight nod as he looked down at the ground. Eli’s heart was

pounding so hard that the blood rushing at his ears was loud, almost drowning

out every noise around him. He hugged his midsection as he waited for his dad

to speak. It felt like the seconds stretched into forever as they stood there

silently.

“I love you, Dad.”
Carl nodded as he looked toward the car that Jersey was waiting at. “I’ll

see you Sunday?”

Eli grinned as he nodded his head. “I’ll be here Sunday.”
As his father turned to walk away, he stopped, not turning around as his

shoulders slumped. “You can bring your…” He sighed and then walked away.

Chapter Ten

Jersey’s legs carried him at a fast pace as he ran through the woods. He was

close, real close as he panted, his knives drawn and in his hands as he ducked a

low branch. His feet slammed against the hard earth as Buck, Christian, and

Dante ran with him.

He wasn’t sure why Christian hadn’t just transported them to the location,

but he wasn’t going to argue the point. He slowed slightly as he maneuvered
down an embankment. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw his brother right
behind him. Buck’s face was grim as he managed the downward momentum.

Christian’s arms were pumping hard as he took off once he cleared the

embankment, Dante at his side. The brothers caught up, all four weaving their
way through the darkness. Jersey noticed that he didn’t hear one single animal
in their area. The quiet was eerie. When Christian slowed, signaling them to

stop, Jersey walked quietly to the prince’s side.

Standing there in the middle of the forest, Jersey heard a strange noise off

to his left. It almost sounded like chanting, but who would be in the middle of
nowhere chanting? He listened closely. Christian hadn’t said why they were
here. He just said that he needed Buck and Jersey to help him.

The chanting started to die down, lowering to a soft hum. The prince and

Dante moved slowly toward a small clump of bushes, Jersey and Buck
following close behind the two. Jersey’s anger flared when he saw Mallon
standing in a small clearing, his arms raised as he spoke softly. There were half

a dozen men standing there, humming. They stood in a circle around the

ex-elder, all watching Mallon with a look of reverence on their faces.

Jersey wanted to storm over to the bastard and bleed him dry. Mallon didn’t

deserve to live after what he had done to Eli. His mate’s scars might have
healed, but that didn’t mean Eli had forgotten any of the horrific things that had
happened to him.

Christian walked a little closer, raising his hands high as he began to chant

in a language that Jersey didn’t recognize. Mallon spun around, his eyes
narrowing as he looked at the four of them. “Do you think you can stop me?”

Christian didn’t answer him as he continued to chant, his eyes closed as his

arms rose higher. Jersey stood next to his prince, ready to die to defend him.

“Get them,” Mallon shouted at the six men that had surrounded him in a

circle. They screeched as they raced toward the four. Jersey raised his knives,

letting them swing as the first of their attackers drew close, Jersey cutting the

ghoul across his shoulder. Jersey had no doubt who they were. The stench alone

gave them away.

The thing howled as it gnashed his teeth, trying to bite Jersey. He wanted to

curse at the thing but was afraid of breaking Christian’s concentration. His
brother and Dante remained quiet as well as they fought the lamia that raced

toward them. Jersey used his knives skillfully. There was no way he was biting

into one of those hideous things.

“What are you doing?” Mallon shouted from off in the distance. Jersey

wanted to look, but he was too busy trying to kill the unholy thing in front of

him. He should be the one who went after Mallon, the one who killed him, but

Jersey took his rage out on the ghoul instead. He knew that Mallon had grown

powerful, too powerful for Jersey to kill with his bare hands.

Jersey swung one of his knives, catching the lamia across his throat. He

pushed all of his weight into the knife, decapitating the foul creature.

He spun to help his brother when a soft glow began. He turned his head to

see Mallon slowly rising into the air, screaming as he writhed around. Christian

kept chanting. His facial features relaxed, and then his arms swung out.

Jersey grimaced when the elder died a gruesome death. He turned around,

sickened by what had just happened. His attention went back to his brother,

helping him destroy the foul creatures that Mallon had called forth.

When he and Buck killed the last one they had been fighting, Jersey turned

to see Dante finishing off the ghoul that was trying to bite him. The leader of

the Northern coven was quick, fierce, and swift as he took the thing down.

Jersey had a new respect for the vampire.

“It is finished,” Christian said as he disseminated back to the club, taking

the brothers with him.

Jersey breathed a sigh of relief when he spotted Eli sitting on the couch

waiting for him. He turned to the prince. “Why didn’t we just pop in when we
went after him?”

Christian walked toward the office door, sparing Jersey a glance. “Because

he would have felt it if we had. We needed the element of surprise on our side.”

Made sense to him.

Buck walked out of the office after Christian. Jersey turned toward his

mate, pulling him into his arms. “Mallon is dead.”

Eli gave a quick nod as he stared up at Jersey. Damn, he would never get

tired of gazing into his mate’s beautiful hazel eyes. They were like sparkling
gems. He dipped his head, slanting his mouth and capturing Eli’s lips. They
were so soft and perfect. Jersey cupped the back of Eli’s head as he explored
his mate’s wondrous mouth.

Jersey pulled his mate close, Eli jumping up and wrapping his legs around

his waist. He pushed his fingers past Eli’s waistband, his fingers playing over
his mate’s smooth skin. The scars were finally gone, a distant memory.

Eli had a compact, solid body that Jersey loved exploring. He bit gently

into Eli’s lips, drawing the blood out as he walked slowly to the office door and
locked it. His hand swung back to Eli’s skin, caressing it with his fingers as he

deepened the kiss. He knew his mate was still hurting over his father. Eli had

told him what was said in the driveway, and Jersey was thankful that Carl still
wanted to be a part of Eli’s life, even if he had a hard time with his son’s
preference.

Jersey’s cock was throbbing as Eli ground his ass down onto his shaft,

making him forget whatever it was he had been thinking about. He broke the

kiss, his thumb running back and forth over Eli’s cheek as he stared down into
his amazing eyes. “I love you, Eli.”

“I love you, too, Jersey,” Eli replied as his lips began to graze over Jersey’s

neck. He leaned his back against the door, his head tilted back as he began to
breathe heavily. Eli’s pink tongue lapped over his neck, teasing.

Setting Eli on his feet, they both kicked their jeans off quickly and then

their shirts. Eli jumped back into Jersey’s arms, smiling as he kissed Jersey’s
chest, his tongue trailing from one nipple to the other. Jersey moaned when Eli

latched onto one of them and began to suck hard. His head was spinning as his

mate pinched the other hued disc.

Jersey reached beneath him and lined his cock up, working it in slowly as

Eli bit into his chest, drinking from him and at the same time pushing down
onto his cock. Jersey’s legs were shaking as he leaned his full weight into the
door. His head rocked back and forth as his mate fed, tugging on his skin as he

sucked from his vein.

The warmth of Eli’s lips on his chest was intoxicating. Wrapping his arms

around his mate, Jersey began to plunge in and out of his tight hole, feeling as

though he was spiraling downward into the depths of pleasure. His body was
buzzing, his cock throbbing as he pushed it further into his mate’s body. His
damn eyes rolled back into his head. The feeling was incredible.

Licking the wound closed, Eli wrapped his arms around Jersey’s neck,

leaning in closely as Jersey took his turn feeding from his mate.

When Eli’s blood splashed across his tongue, Jersey snapped his hips harder,
determined to bring his mate off. He growled as he drank deeply, his cock
pulling back and then slamming back into his mate’s body. Eli leaned back,
tilting his head further to the side.

Extracting his teeth, Jersey licked the wound closed as he ran his hands up

and down his mate’s back, feeling his orgasm approaching. He reached
between their hard bodies, tugging at Eli’s cock as his hips snapped.

Eli threw his head back, crying out as Jersey milked every last drop from

his mate. The tightening of Eli’s hole around his dick was too much. Jersey

roared as he came, spilling his seed inside his mate.

His skin was slick with sweat as Eli eased his body off of Jersey’s. He

missed the closeness as soon as Eli moved away. He’d never get enough of Eli,
not in a million years.

* * * *

Eli swung his hips, trying his best to mimic Jersey’s moves on the dance

floor. He couldn’t believe he was actually dancing in public! He normally had
two left feet, but with his mate’s help, he was actually quite graceful.

Jersey grinned as Eli seductively worked his way around his mate’s body,

his hands grabbing Jersey’s nicely shaped ass. Visions of the night Jersey had
rode Eli’s cock had his shaft hardening.

He rubbed his cock into the back of Jersey, grinding it into his ass as his

hands skimmed up and down his mate’s back. This was kind of fun. Never
before had he felt so liberated. Eli didn’t care what other people thought as he
worked his way back around to face Jersey.

“You’re gonna fuck me,” Jersey whispered into Eli’s ear, making him

instantly pant at the dirty promise. He had to admit, fucking Jersey had been

everything and more. Eli was usually the receiver, but he became quickly

addicted to giving as well.

“It’ll be my pleasure.” He damn near purred the words into Jersey’s ear.

The thought had him horny as fuck. Images of pounding deep into Jersey’s ass
had his mouth watering. Eli ran his hand over the large bulge in Jersey’s pants,
squeezing the head as his mate ran his hands over Eli’s shoulders, pulling him

closer.

Eli spotted Jimmy waving him over to the bar. “Now?” he mouthed.
Jimmy nodded and waved once more. Eli growled low as he told Jersey he

would be right back. Eli was going to neuter Jimmy right there at the bar if it
wasn’t important. He pushed his way through the crowd, taking a seat on one of
the empty stools. “What?”

Jimmy gave him a devilish grin as he slid the glass of crimson across the

scarred counter. “I’ve finally perfected this. Take a drink.”

Was he serious? He called him away from Jersey for this? “You know I

don’t drink that stuff.”

“Come on.” Jimmy pouted. “Take a drink for old time’s sake.”
Eli eyed the glass, swallowing hard as his fingers wrapped around the stem.

He remembered the last time Jimmy had slid him a glass. That shit had been

disgusting. Was he really going to try again?

He wasn’t too sure about this. He didn’t like getting blood from anywhere

but his mate. Eli tilted the glass close to his nose as he took a whiff. His nose
wrinkled as he set the glass down. “It smells like blood.”

Jimmy pointed at the glass and looked at Eli with exasperation. “It’s

supposed to smell like blood, dork. Now drink up.”

Eli picked the glass up once more, the tip of his tongue slowly closing the

gap to the crimson liquid. He pulled the cup away at the last minute, shaking
his head. “I can’t do it.”

Before he knew what Jimmy was doing, his best friend stuck his finger into

the cup and then shoved it into Eli’s mouth. The taste exploded on Eli’s tongue
as he smacked Jimmy’s hand away. “Do that again and I’ll kick your ass.”

“Yeah, yeah. How does it taste?” Jimmy leaned into the counter, his eyes

locked onto Eli’s, a look of hopefulness in his eyes.

Eli smacked his lips, running his tongue over the roof of his mouth as he

sampled what Jimmy had shoved in there. “Not bad.” He was surprised that
crimson wasn’t metallic tasting and bitter. It was pretty damn good…for blood.

“Hot damn!” Jimmy whooped. “I finally got it right.”
“No shit,” Winston said as he walked down the length of the bar and

grabbed the glass, barely letting it touch his lips as he took a tiny sip. “I’ll be
damned, you did.”

Jimmy did some weird dance behind the bar, shaking his ass around as his

arms flailed in the air. “I did it!”

Eli laughed as he shook his head. The things that made his best friend

happy. As he turned around toward his mate, Eli spotted some guy pushing up

on Jersey, getting all close and personal. His temper shot through the roof as he

pushed away from the stool, his fangs bared as he knocked people out of the

way.

“Mine!” he shouted as he approached his mate, pushing the stranger off of

Jersey. “Mine!” he repeated. His chest was heaving as he glared at the human
with so many piercings that his face was hard to discern.

“But—”
Eli swung around, hissing at his mate. “You’re mine!” There were no buts

about it. He didn’t want to hear anything Jersey had to say. He reached up and
sank his fangs into Jersey’s neck, staking his claim right there on the dance
floor.

Jersey shuddered in his arms as he wrapped his arms around Eli. Jimmy

might have perfected crimson, but nothing would ever compare to the taste of
Jersey’s blood on his lips. He extracted his fangs, licking the wound closed as
he rounded on the human. The guy was long gone, leaving Eli feeling

triumphant.

“He was only whispering in my ear because I couldn’t hear him over the

crowd. He asked where the bathroom was,” Jersey said around a big grin.

Eli should have felt ashamed at his actions, but he didn’t. He wanted

everyone to know Jersey was his and he wasn’t sharing. He grabbed his mate
by the hand as he stormed off of the dance floor, heading to the second floor to

teach his mate about getting too close to anyone, no matter the reason.

* * * *

The Manacle was packed to the brim for a Thursday night. Jersey stood

next to Harley at the front door, helping him monitor how many came out so

they knew how many to give admittance to.

He had to admit, he liked bouncing. There was always something going on

inside and out. He had already broken up two fights tonight between humans

who were plastered. It seemed the drunker humans became, the more violent

they tended to become. But not all humans were like that. Some become very

hands-on while others laughed and had a good time.

Jersey started to get an idea who were the troublemakers of the crowd.

They were usually very loud when they stood in line waiting to get in and very

rude. Those were the ones he allowed into the club last. They always had a few

choice words for him, but knew better than to start any trouble. One look from

Jersey usually quieted them.

Baring his fangs didn’t hurt either.
Harley bumped Jersey’s shoulder and gave a jerk of his chin. Jersey looked

off in the direction where Harley was nodding. He spotted a few men lingering

toward the back of the line, talking to a few humans. His hackles rose at the

sight. He could spot rogues in a crowd of one thousand men.

“I’m going to get Christian,” Harley said as he walked into the club. Jersey

kept his eyes on the men, cursing when he saw the dumbass humans walk off

with them. He glanced at the line and then back into the club. There was no

way he was allowing rogues to kill innocent humans.

“Hey, come here,” he called to a large man standing in line. The guy

stepped out of line and walked forward. “I need you to man the door while I
take care of a problem. Don’t let anyone in until the other bouncer gets back.”
He thought about the mind scrubbing thing and cursed. “And don’t let anyone
leave either.”

“You got it,” the guy said as he took up post at the door. His face was grim

as he stared at the people in line. Jersey rolled his eyes as he took off toward

the alley. He had heard that rogues were working together. He even knew for a

fact that two rogues had attacked Jimmy the night he had come here to party,

but seeing was something totally different.

The closer to the alley Jersey came, the angrier he got. He would never

understand the need to kill a donor. It was senseless to him. If donors started

dying, they would be afraid to come out at night. And then where would the

vampires be? It made absolutely no sense to him at all.

As he rounded the corner, he saw that only one human was standing there

among three rogues. The other humans must have grown a brain and taken off.
Too bad the smaller man hadn’t. He was looking between the three men with a
terrified expression on his face.

Jersey cursed. “Get the fuck away from him!” he shouted.
The rogues turned and hissed at Jersey. Really? What was that supposed to

do, scare him? He pounded the pavement with his feet as he raced after the

three vampires. They took off running in the opposite direction.

Pussies.

He stopped running and approached the man still standing there stunned.

The guy stood there, staring at the fleeing men.

“They were vampires!”

Jersey nodded as he placed a hand on the guy’s head, scrubbing his mind.

Chapter Eleven

Eli stood on the front step of his parents’ home. It was Sunday. The night

when his parents were having the family dinner. He swallowed hard as he rang

the doorbell. Eli normally just walked right in, but having Jersey with him

made him think twice.

His mother opened the door, smiling at him and Jersey as she waved a

hand. “Come in, boys.” Eli preceded Jersey as he stepped into the house. He
could hear his Aunt Elda laughing from the kitchen, along with his cousin

Madeline and her husband Sam. He heard other voices as well and knew more

of his family was here.

“Everyone is in the kitchen as you can hear,” his mom said as she grabbed

Jersey’s arm and walked him to his doom. Eli wanted to grab his mate and run,
but he knew that he had to face his family.

Eli had been worried about coming here. He was a vampire now, so how

was he going to eat? Jersey explained to him that he could eat, but he would

throw it up later. Eli was so not looking forward to eating.

He walked into the kitchen to a slew of family members. Eli smiled at the

babies that were running around, playing tag with each other as everyone

stopped talking and looked up at the pair standing in the doorway.

“So it’s true,” Aunt Elda said as she walked around the island and assessed

Jersey. “You went and got yourself a boyfriend.”

Eli could feel his face heat as he entwined his fingers with Jersey’s. He

wasn’t going to hide who he was any longer. “It’s true, Aunt Elda.” His heart
was hammering in his chest as he faced his entire family. He had never felt so

vulnerable in his life. Jersey surprised him by wrapping an arm around his

shoulder, pulling Eli

close.

“Is that a problem?” Jersey asked, narrowing his eyes at Elda.
God, was Eli proud of his mate at that moment. He knew if his whole

family turned their backs on him, he still had Jersey. It was the same feeling he

got when he finally came out to his parents the other night.

“Not at all.” Aunt Elda smiled, slapping Jersey on his wide chest. “He’s

family. We accept family any way they are,” she finished and then glared over
at Eli’s father. Eli hadn’t even noticed his dad standing off to the side talking
with Uncle Bert.

Their eyes locked, and then his dad looked away. It hurt like hell, but Eli

refused to let it show. He was glad his aunt hadn’t turned her back on him. Eli

loved Elda dearly.

“Get in here so we can have a look at you,” Aunt Elda said as she pulled

Jersey into the kitchen. Eli smiled as the women swarmed his mate, poking at

his muscles and asking him a thousand and one questions.

He stood in the doorway alone, unsure of what to do. The men were all

standing off to the side, eyeing him. Uncle Bert finally walked over and began
talking with him. “So, what plans do the two of you have?”

Eli began to talk with Bert, using him as a lifeline as he remembered to

hide his fangs. Jersey had taught him how to do that as well.

The other men slowly made their way over, some curious, others not

caring that he was gay. His dad was the last to make his way to Eli.

He didn’t say much, but he moved even closer, standing next to Eli.
As the newness died down, Eli became less anxious and more relaxed.

Jersey had looked across the kitchen a few times smiling at Eli, even winking
at him. He couldn’t believe how much he loved that large vampire.

“Dinner is ready,” his mom announced as everyone migrated toward the

dining room. Eli took a seat next to Jersey as dinner got underway. The food

tasted like sand in his mouth, but Eli faked his enthusiasm and smiled at his

mom, telling her how wonderful it tasted. Jersey didn’t have a problem. He ate

everything on his plate and went back for seconds. The man was an eating

machine. Something his mother raved over.

As the evening winded down, his mother packed leftovers for him and

Jersey. His mate whooped at all the plastic bowls with lids that she piled into a
bag. “You can’t have this until you leave,” his mom warned Jersey with a
sparkle of mischief in her eyes. “But there are plenty of leftovers still in the
kitchen if you want—”

Jersey took off before his mother could finish her sentence. She laughed as

she turned toward Eli. “That man sure can eat.”

“You have no idea,” he replied as he shook his head.
Eli headed back toward the kitchen when his father stepped into his path.

“How have you been?”

It had only been a few days since he had seen his dad, so Eli knew Carl

was reaching for something to say.

“I’m fine, Dad. How is everything going at work?” The conversation was

awkward, but his dad was reaching out, and Eli was clinging as well. He knew

they had a long way to go before his dad fully accepted his choice, but he was

trying and that was the important thing.

* * * *

Christian’s finger tapped on the table as he looked over the top ranking in

his coven. The uniting attempt hadn’t worked as well as he had hoped. There
were a few fights, some unwelcomed biting, and Shelby’s disaster.

He had to find a way to unite his people before the rogues completely took

over and he had to wake the higher counsel. That was something that Christian

would use as a very last resort.

The higher counsel consisted of two ancient vampires, two vampires that

didn’t hold the compassion that Christian had. They would kill every single
rogue and then start on the underbelly of human society. They didn’t
discriminate when it came to cleansing the earth of the seedy and criminal

beings.

That was one of the reasons Christian had put them into a deep sleep. His

younger twin brothers had gotten out of control when they were at their highest

reign of power. Ceri and Rhys had nearly gone rogue killing off society’s scum.

He cleared his throat as he leaned forward, eyeing each vampire in the

room. “My quest to unite our covens didn’t go as planned. If we don’t unite, the
rogues will overtake us.” What he failed to mention was that the ancient
triad—which consisted of Christian and his younger brothers—could stop the
problem immediately, but that would mean wiping out half of the world’s
population. That was something Christian wasn’t willing to do.

“Maybe we should go at this from another angle,” Christo suggested.

“Maybe we could approach the other coven members individually. I’d be
willing to take the first.”

Christian nodded. That meant a longer turnover time, but something needed

to be done. “You can have the brothers, August and Brandon. They seem to
think that they still belong in the Northern coven. I want them to see that it
doesn’t matter what coven they belong to. We are all one. They’ve given
Emilio a run for his money. I think it’s time to hand them over to someone
else.” Christian nodded at Emilio, letting him know that there were no hard
feelings and it wasn’t his fault.

Christo nodded his agreement. “I’ll take them both under my wing.”

In the meantime, Christian had to figure out a quicker way. They were

losing vampires at an alarming rate to the dark and seductive side of their race.

He pushed away from the table, Minsheng following him as he wondered

what he could do to bring the vampire race together. Ceri and Rhys wouldn’t
stay asleep much longer, and to be honest, Christian missed them.

If only he could find a way to make them less lethal to the world, he could

wake them and reunite.

* * * *

Jersey kissed Eli up his bare spine as the two lay in bed enjoying their time

together. His hands ghosted over Eli’s shoulder, kissing his mate softly on his
skin. Eli moved closer to Jersey, his back forming into Jersey’s chest.

It had been weeks since his mate was found bloody and broken, and Jersey

had fallen madly in love with the man. He couldn’t see a life without him.

His fingers played over Eli’s shoulder as he ran his cheek over his mate’s

hair, thankful that Eli had survived not only his ordeal, but the aftermath as

well.

Eli turned in his arms, gazing up at Jersey with those gorgeous hazel-green

eyes. His chest tightened at the magnificent sight. “I love you,” he whispered
before taking Eli’s lips in a scorching kiss. He couldn’t seem to get enough of
his mate. Just being near him made Jersey harder than a rock.

His mate moaned into the kiss, pushing until he was draped over Jersey’s

body. Their cocks grazed together, setting Jersey’s blood on fire. His mate was
hard, compact, and chiseled. He was short, but Jersey wouldn’t have him any
other way.

Jersey inhaled sharply when Eli began to nuzzle at his neck, the tips of his

fangs grazing his skin. His cock throbbed out a beat to match his heart at the

feeling of Eli being so close.

He ran his finger down the crease on Eli’s backside as his mate nipped at

his skin. It was so fucking erotic that Jersey thought he would lose his mind.
His finger drew a lazy circle around Eli’s puckered hole, pressing the tip in
slightly.

Eli pushed back onto Jersey’s finger as he lapped at his neck. “I used to

think that being with a man was depraved.”

“And now?” Jersey asked, his finger continuing its lazy rotation.
“You’ve helped me realize there’s nothing wrong with what I need from

you. You’ve helped me through a lot of things, Jersey, and I love you for that.”

Jersey grinned as he reached for the lube, coating his fingers and then

inserting two into his mate’s tight ass. “It was my honor to show you the way.”

Eli groaned, spreading his legs apart to give Jersey more room. He twisted

his wrist, stretching his mate as he took Eli’s lips again. The kiss was slow,
drugging as he added a third finger.

When Eli started fucking his fingers, Jersey pulled them free and replaced

them with his cock. Eli slowly lowered himself, his eyes closing, a look of pure

bliss on his face. Jersey looked up at his mate as Eli straddled his hips, feeling

nothing but pure love for the smaller man.

“Ride me, baby.”
Eli planted his feet on the bed, his palms on Jersey’s chest as he drove

Jersey’s cock up into his ass. Jersey planted his feet on the bed as well, driving
hard into Eli’s ass at the same time. He tucked his hands behind his head,
enjoying the lazy evening they were sharing. Jersey didn’t want to be anywhere
else but lying under his mate getting fucked, or fucking the man that had

changed his life forever.