Flynn, Joyee - Damian [Marius Brothers 5] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove)

Marius Brothers 5

Damian

In a world where humans and paranormals coexist in secret and

where soulless demons roam, vampires dream to be united with

their mates.

Damian Marius is the youngest of the seven Marius brothers.

Although known for bringing happiness to those around him, he

has been having trouble handling his own needs…sexually. The

frustration and self-loathing have led him on the path of self-

destruction.

Cyrus Diaz is a medic and a warrior who saves Damian in more

ways than one. He understands what his mate needs to become

healthy again and to feel sexually sated. However, the years Cyrus

has spent alone have put him in a place where he cannot seem to

understand how to satisfy his mate emotionally.

Will Cyrus learn to express his love for Damian through an outlet

other than sex, or will he end up pushing Damian away?

Genre: Alternative (M/M or F/F), Paranormal,
Vampires/Werewolves
Length: 35,452 words

DAMIAN

Marius Brothers 5

Joyee Flynn

EROTIC ROMANCE

MANLOVE

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

ABOUT THE E-BOOK YOU HAVE PURCHASED:
Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to
only ONE LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on
your own personal computer or device. You do not have
resell or distribution rights without the prior written
permission of both the publisher and the copyright
owner of this book. This book cannot be copied in any
format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer
to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer
program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest.
Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright
Law. Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online,
offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently
known or yet to be invented, is forbidden. If you do not
want this book anymore, you must delete it from your
computer.

WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution
of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright
infringement, including infringement without monetary
gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5
years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

If you find a Siren-BookStrand e-book being sold or shared
illegally, please let us know at
legal@sirenbookstrand.com

A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Erotic Romance ManLove

DAMIAN
Copyright © 2012 by Joyee Flynn
E-book ISBN: 1-61926-534-6

First E-book Publication: March 2012

Cover design by Jinger Heaston
All cover art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without
express written permission.

All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance
to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com

Letter to Readers

Dear Readers,

If you have purchased this copy of Damian by Joyee Flynn from
BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank
you for not sharing your copy of this book.

Regarding E-book Piracy

This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or
group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing
rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this
book.

The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying
readers high-quality reading entertainment.

This is Joyee Flynn’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect
Ms. Flynn’s right to earn a living from her work.

Amanda Hilton, Publisher
www.SirenPublishing.com
www.BookStrand.com

DEDICATION

For those of us who’ve ever been too afraid to voice our desires,

in the bedroom or out. Sometimes it just takes someone you can open
up to and really be yourself with.

*On a side note, when I wrote the first Marius Brothers, I had no

clue how big the world would get. Then I had so much fun with the
world, that I thought, why not Irish twins? So the O’Hagans were
born. Now there are other minor characters who need their stories
told...and that’s how one world ended up with three different series.
To keep everything straight, I’ve added a few pages to my site,
including a brief background on the world so it’s not repeated in
every book, the chronological order of the books, character charts,
and a list of who’s who. I hope this helps make sense of the madness
that is my brain. www.joyeeflynn.com/themariusworld.htm

DAMIAN

Marius Brothers 5

JOYEE FLYNN

Chapter 1

Damian

“They’re all dead. I killed them. All of them, slaughtered them,” I

whispered in horror, glancing around at the carnage in front of me as I
crouched in the corner, my head leaning  against  the cold wall. The
broken table sat in the center of the warehouse, and droplets of dried
blood from the five dead and broken bodies surrounding me decorated
the  gray  walls in garish splatters.  Smaller pools of blood around the
bodies glittered on the concrete floor in the half-light.

Looking at the man closest to me, I could see that his eyes were

still open. I remembered how his stare had changed from hate to fear
to complete emptiness as the life had drained from him.

“What did you kill? Some rats piss you off in DC?” My eldest

brother chuckled lightheartedly.

“Humans.” That one word hung in the air for a moment as if both

of us were wishing the truth away. I felt my insides twist sickeningly.

“You killed humans? Dear god, Damian! Why?” Victor hissed

into the phone, and I knew he wasn’t alone wherever he was.

“They took me, and they were going to—”

Damian

“So it was self-defense?” I hoped so, or I was in a lot of trouble.

But I didn’t know if being willing to go home with one man and then
being drugged and waking with five around me would be explainable
to the Council. “Don’t move, okay? I’ll track your phone and drive
over.”

“I’m sorry,” I gasped as the pain I felt in my entire body radiated

out and intensified. “I might not be conscious when you get here to
help you. I didn’t mean to kill them.”

“What?” he roared, and some part of my foggy mind realized I

should maybe have mentioned I was hurt. “Why didn’t you say you
were injured?”

What was there to say? You didn’t ask sounded like an asshole

thing to say since I was calling him for help. And we’ve been on the
phone only like a minute wasn’t much better. But I knew what he
meant. It should have been the first thing out of my mouth instead of
confessing I killed my attackers.

“How bad?” he asked after barking out some orders at someone in

the background.

“I haven’t had blood in over a week,” I admitted sheepishly. Fuck.

There was no way of hiding how I lived my life after this. “Vic,
please don’t tell everyone. Please, brother. I–I can’t have them know
and see me like this.” I felt a few tears escape my eyes. “I know I
have a lot of explaining to do, but I can’t in front of everyone.”

He was quiet a moment, and I worried that we’d lost the

connection. “Okay, baby bro. I’ll just bring Micah and Riley since
we’ll need him if you’re hurt.”

“No, please,” I whimpered, knowing it was a lost cause. Once

Victor made a decision, the moon was easier to move.

“Final offer or I call Mom.” Yup, figured it would be like that.
“Micah and Riley,” I whispered.
“That’s what I thought,” he replied and then softened his tone.

“The chopper should be ready in five minutes. They’re already on

Joyee Flynn

their way. We’re leaving from the warrior compound, okay? It
shouldn’t take long. How bad are you?”

“I don’t think it’s life threatening but I’m pretty mangled and cut

up. They were drawing it out.” I rolled my eyes at how stupid it
sounded. And the moment it was out of my mouth, I knew what he
was going to ask next.

“So what information were they torturing you for?” Yep, that was

it.

“Vic,” I sighed, realizing I was going to have to say the words at

some point in time. “They drugged me at a club. I woke up naked,
strapped down to a table while five men did the most sadistic foreplay
ever to me as I tried to get past the drugs. But when one went to—to
enter, I freaked. I don’t know if it was adrenaline, but suddenly I
could move and feel my head. I broke the table and killed them all.”

“Good. I’m sorry it was you who did it, but someone in this

family would have killed the bastards. We’ll be there shortly.” Vic
hung up without another word. I loved my eldest brother. Hell, I loved
all my brothers, but Vic and I were really tight. And that man had an
evil streak a mile wide when it came to his family.

I closed my eyes for few seconds before glancing over at the

bodies strewn about and realizing I might have done them a favor. I’d
done it quick, fighting for survival. With six older brothers and a
mother who was probably more vicious than all of them when it came
to her kids, these humans would have suffered greatly in any of their
hands.

But how many other lives might I have just destroyed? There were

seven of us brothers, and I worried that when people found out what
happened here, it would be held against them as well. It was Victor,
then Stefan, Gabriel, Micah, Virgil, Remus, and then me. I was
seventy-six years old and still they treated me like I was twelve. But
at least I wasn’t the shortest, too.

There were normal vampires who ranged in all shapes and sizes

just like humans did. Then there were some of us who were born

Damian

warriors. When we went through our transitions at puberty to become
full vampires who needed blood to survive, some of us grew massive.
I’d been about five-three before my transition at fourteen, which was
early for most, and six-four after it was over. Our large stature and
ability to bulk on major muscle was what determined we would be
warriors of our race.

Why did strong, fast, almost invincible vampires need their own

warriors? Demons.

Demons were actually vampires once—vampires who decided

they didn’t want blood to feed like the rest of us. They wanted it for
the power, for the kill. Vampires, enforced by our various High
Councils, lived by a strict code. Do no harm to humans, which I had
just broken, and hide all evidence of our existence from humans. In
recent decades with blood banks everywhere, most owned by
founding vampire families, we didn’t need to drink from humans to
survive anymore.

Mmm, blood sounds so good right now. I moaned in my head.

What kind of stupid idiot vampire denies himself blood for good sex.
Oh wait… Me! My mother was going to beat my ass if she ever found
out. I groaned in pain again as I felt warm blood start trickling down
my side faster.

My family lived by that code in everything they did. Hell, my

parents had seven children who all turned out to be warriors and
served their race for centuries upon centuries. It was the right thing to
do. We were born to help our people, so it never came into question
that we would. And while some demons had once understood that,
they chose the path to evil.

They liked the thrill of the chase and slaughtering of humans, who

just weren’t built to stop us if we wanted to hurt them. But even like
psycho humans, demons weren’t right in the head and chose this life.
Demons were what human legends of vampires were based on.
Bloodsucking, vile creatures that lost their souls and would burn from
sunlight or holy objects.

Joyee Flynn

Vampires were different. We could die, of course, just not how

most legends said. Garlic was nothing to us, which I was thankful for
every day. Pizza just isn’t pizza without garlic on it. Crosses didn’t
hurt, silver was no big thing, and we could be in the sunlight. Granted,
the sunlight wasn’t our favorite thing because we were quite sensitive
to it, but we certainly didn’t burst into flames. There just probably
weren’t too many vampires who lived on Mexican beaches drinking
mia tias.

Every vampire had one or two special gifts of their own. Mine

was the ability to hold someone mentally hostage. I could do this to
four to five people at a time. Micah could scramble minds of people,
which was useful in battle as well. Remus could talk to animals.
While a neat parlor trick, it wasn’t a great gift for fieldwork unless we
needed a distraction sometimes.

Glancing around, I winced when I saw my clothes, leather pants

and a red silk shirt, in ribbons on the floor by the table I’d been on.
Obviously they had cut those off me. So what did I do now? Just sit
here in the corner and bleed, naked and cold? I really hoped wherever
I was that the other buildings around me were deserted. I doubted I’d
been that quiet when I went nuts. But then again, given what they
were doing to me, I didn’t think they would have picked downtown
DC.

I saw an old black tarp several feet away. Now that the adrenaline

had worn off and I felt ready to pass out, I wasn’t sure I could get to
it. I rolled to my knees, gasping as red-hot pain shot through my body.
I crawled onto it and flipped it over me, deciding I was done moving
until help came.

“Damian!” Victor yelled, and I realized I must have blacked out

for a short while. Damn, I was in bad shape.

“Here,” I called out after a few tries to get my throat working

again. I heard footsteps thundering toward me. Suddenly Victor’s,
Micah’s, and Riley’s faces filled my vision. “I’m so sorry.”

Damian

“None of that, little bro,” Micah said gently as Riley kneeled next

to me. I tried to push him away.

“No, not you,” I gasped. Hurt crossed Riley’s handsome face. He

was like a brother to me now, too. “I don’t want any of my brothers to
see this.”

Understanding replaced the hurt, and he nodded. “We just got a

new medic and trauma nurse at the compound. It’s either him or me.”

It only took me a second to decide. A stranger was better than a

member of my family. “Him.”

“Okay. We’re going to move to the chopper. I’ll ride back with

you while Micah and Victor handle all of this and then drive your car
back,” he said gently as he helped me sit up. “Where’s your car?”

Oh, fuck. I named the club I’d been at, and all three of their eyes

went wide before they could school their features. Yeah, it was a
hard-core Dom club. I’m sure they thought I was going there to be the
Dom. I hoped they never learned the truth.

“We’ll find your keys or hot-wire it,” Victor said, the first to find

his voice. I nodded as I glanced away. “Get patched up and then we’ll
talk.”

“Thanks for coming.” I moaned in pain as they picked me up,

trying desperately to hold the tarp  closed  so they didn’t see how
destroyed my body was. The agony was almost too much as they
moved me, and it took everything I had not to pass out. Riley held me
after they laid me down on the seats. I saw Victor’s  and Micah’s
worried faces before they closed the door and we lifted off.

“The medic has to keep my secrets, right?” I mumbled, on the

edge of consciousness.

“Yeah, he took the same oath I did. But you’re going to have to

tell us all something, Damian. There’s going to be a lot of questions.”

“I know, but everyone doesn’t have to know every detail,” I

replied, hoping that was enough.

“Okay, brother. Whatever you want. He’s a good guy and

excellent at his job. He’ll get you fixed right up.” Riley gently moved

Joyee Flynn

my curly, ear-length brown hair off my forehead. “I’m so sorry this
happened to you. Micah and Victor will fix this. I don’t want you to
worry about anything but getting better.”

“I killed five humans, Riley,” I whispered, staring up into his blue

eyes. “My mangled body is the least of my worries.” His eyes held
understanding. Of the several rules vampires, especially warriors,
lived by, the most important involved never bringing harm to humans.
And when it came to that one, the Council wasn’t ever lenient.

“You didn’t just randomly kill anyone. They kidnapped you and

tortured you. They were going to rape you and probably murder you,
Damian. The Council will understand that.”

“I hope so,” I whispered hoarsely. If not, it would destroy my

family. Not just because of whatever punishment they would give me
but because both my parents were on the Council. If they didn’t rule
in my favor after whatever investigation took place, I couldn’t see my
parents still being around those people ever.

But I could worry about all of that later. I had to. Otherwise it was

just too much to think about at the moment and I’d lose my mind. I
couldn’t stop seeing their faces as I killed them and what they did to
me every time I closed my eyes. That was more than enough for one
person to deal with.

I felt the chopper touch down and opened my eyes. I couldn’t see

much, but I guessed we were on the landing pad at the side of the
warrior compound. Good. The hospital Riley had was attached to the
compound and had its own side entrance. All I could make out in my
hazy state was the creamy-white color of the hospital’s exterior and
the black doors through which I would be entering. That way I
wouldn’t be going in through the main door, everyone watching and
seeing the state I was in.

Riley along with another man lifted me out of the chopper onto a

gurney. I whimpered and started struggling the moment his scent hit
me.

Damian

“Damian! Damian, it’s okay, brother,” Riley was screaming over

the noise of the chopper as it was shutting down. “We’re at the
warrior compound. This is Cyrus, the medic I was telling you about.”

“No, not him,” I cried out and tried desperately to push away from

him, but my body had become sluggish and weak.

“Yes,” Cyrus growled, getting a strange look from Riley. “You

will let me tend to you right now.”

“No,” I whispered, looking at Riley with a pleading expression.

“This isn’t how I was supposed to meet my mate.”

“Oh fuck,” Riley gasped and glanced at Cyrus. “You need to

choose then. Who do you want to treat you?”

Well, wasn’t that a fucking question if I ever heard one. Have my

brother-in-law see and hear everything or my stranger of a mate. My
head started spinning, and I realized I was going to pass out before I
decided.

“Pick me now, amante,” Cyrus ordered, his soft lips pressed

against my ear. “Take my hand and show Riley that you will let me
treat you. I will make all this go away and take care of you from now
on.”

It sounded so nice, so inviting. Just give it all over to my mate and

he’d handle everything. I reached for his hand, noticing it was bigger
than mine, and nodded as I blacked out.

* * * *

Cyrus

That was all the acknowledgement I needed. Hell, my mate was

now passed out so it didn’t really matter anyways. But when I felt
something wet against my pants, I realized his injuries might be a lot
more serious than he was letting on and it might take both of us
anyways.

Joyee Flynn

“Fuck!” Riley snarled. I glanced at him and followed his gaze.

Yup, there was blood leaking out of the end of the tarp and dripping
all over my scrub pants, the scarlet droplets standing out in stark
contrast to the pale green color of the fabric.

“Let’s go,” I said quickly, not willing to waste another second

with this patient. Especially since he was my mate. We pushed the
gurney through the double doors into the side entrance to the clinic.
The bright lights and white walls of the hospital assaulted my eyes as
we sped down the hallway with Damian.

This would go down in the most fucked up first weeks of a new

job in history. I’d been here a whole five days, learning the ropes of
the warrior hospital, getting to know Riley, and settling in. Now I met
my mate, he could be dying, and god only knew what we would find
when we lifted the tarp.

“Oh my god,” Riley cried out, tears filling his eyes as he slowly

peeled away the tarp from my mate’s wounded flesh. I sucked in a
harsh breath through my teeth. Damian was covered in blood and
more wounds than not. “Did they try to skin him alive?”

I wondered the same thing but didn’t stop to ask. I shouted for the

other staff of the clinic. Since Riley had the place built, he’d hired one
nurse, one administrator, and I was the newest addition. And it was
all-hands-on-deck time.

I felt bad for the two women as we barked out more orders than

any sane person should have been able to handle.

“Get Desmond here now! We need his blood,” Riley ordered the

administrator, Mara. We’d apologize later for being so harsh, though
I’m sure they understood. We weren’t yelling at them because they
did anything wrong. It was more just the situation.

“He’s on his way,” she replied, looking as if she was bracing

herself for impact.

“What? You called him? I told you not to tell anyone.” Riley was

seething and looked as if he would eat her for lunch as we worked on
Damian.

Damian

“No, you told Janice not to tell anyone about the patient you were

going to help,” she replied, shaking her head, her lips pressing
together to form a thin line before she spoke again. “I didn’t know
that was the same patient that the pilot was talking about when he
radioed in that he had Damian Marius and was on the way back here.
I thought you were driving some—”

“Fine!” Riley snarled, shaking his head and throwing his hands

into the air. “But we need to all have a sit-down and work on our
communication real soon.”

“Yes, doctor,” they both said quickly. As if knowing we were

talking about him, Desmond came racing in the trauma room, Elena
hot on his heels. Both of their faces wore expressions of distress.

“Janice, set up a direct IV,” I ordered as I quickly made sure my

mate’s groin was covered from his parents with a sheet.

“What happened?” Desmond growled.
“We don’t know and we don’t have time for questions,” I

snapped, mostly because the not knowing was killing me as well. “His
pressure is going down along with his heart rate. If we don’t get more
blood, strong blood, into him now, he will die.”

Desmond’s face paled as he looked at his youngest son.
“Shit, he’s going into shock,” I told Riley.
“Oh no he’s not,” Elena said firmly and grabbed her husband and

turned him to face her. Staring directly into his eyes, she shouted,
“Desmond Marius, you sit your ass down so we can help Damian.”

When he continued just to stare, I shook my head and went back

to trying to temporarily close all Damian’s wounds until we had time
for more permanent measures. Or he just healed. Why wasn’t he
healing like he should? Vampires, warriors especially, healed wicked
fast.

A loud crack got my attention and I glanced up in time to see

Elena pulling her hand away and a big, bright, red mark on
Desmond’s cheek.

Joyee Flynn

“Right, thank you,” he mumbled, rubbing the side of his face

gingerly and clearing his throat. “Sorry about that.” His eyes were still
wide, but some color was returning to his face.

“Nothing to be sorry about,” Riley said gently as Janice moved

them both to sit by Damian’s head and started the IVs. “No one
should ever have to see their child in this state. If there was any other
way—”

“No, I’m glad we’re here,” Desmond interrupted. “Our boy needs

us, and the more people who love him that are around when he’s hurt,
the better.”

I raised an eyebrow at Riley as we worked. Was this guy for real?

Could this family be so tight that they’d all be standing in here right
now as we saved Damian if we let them?

“Yes,” Riley answered as if knowing the unasked questions in my

head. “Mating into the Marius family is something I can’t put into
words.”

“Well, I hope you meant that in a good way,” Elena muttered. She

was sitting there, hooked up to her son, whispering to him softly, but
still heard what Riley had said. Oh, she was good.

“Of course, Elena. But after centuries of it just being my

grandmother and I, you have to admit your family is slightly
overwhelming.”

“I never denied that, but we all love each other and you,” she

replied hesitantly, glancing at me. “Welcome to the family. We’ll
discuss it later, but I would like to know the name of the man helping
to save my son, who also happens to be Damian’s mate.”

“Cyrus Diaz, ma’am.” Wow, she either had a crystal glass ball

under that perfectly manicured hand or she was physic.

“Nice to meet you, Cyrus. Now save my son.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I mumbled. Like I wasn’t going to anyways. Just

as I was worried things were going to go really wrong, Damian’s
blood pressure started to go up. Thank fuck! His parents’ blood was
helping.

Damian

“Wait, he’s Damian’s mate?” Desmond asked his wife quietly,

trying to not interrupt us.

Elena rolled her eyes playfully at her husband and sighed. “Why

else would they be discussing what it’s like to be a member of our
family?”

“So much wisdom and beauty all in one woman is dangerous,”

Desmond said, so much love in his voice it made my heart hurt.
Glancing down at the broken, damaged man in front of me, I couldn’t
help but hope maybe it would be like that for us one day.

If we could heal him.
“Okay, we’ve got all the immediate wounds closed and there were

no internal injuries,” I said, snapping out of my daydreams. “It looks
like he tore most of the gashes open by moving. They have some
jagged edges but start as though carefully placed and cut with a
scalpel.” It was one of the most bizarre things I’d ever seen. What
happened to my mate?

“We’ll talk later,” Riley hissed, his eyes darting to Damian’s

parents before wiping away some more blood. “I’m going to start
healing the bigger wounds. Janice, would you please grab me a few
bags of blood?”

“Someone was torturing my boy?” Elena snarled, her fangs

coming out as her eyes started to shift colors. Whoa, that was trippy.
They went from a gorgeous kelly green until they were so bright they
almost looked iridescent.

“We don’t know, Elena,” Riley answered, not looking at his

mother-in-law. Oh, he was so fucking lying. He might not know
everything, but he knew something. Of that I had no doubt. “And you
know I can’t tell you anything anyways. Let’s just help get him better
and then we can piece together what happened.”

“Of course,” she said graciously, nodding her agreement. Her eyes

went back to normal, and I realized this was not a woman I ever
wanted to fuck with.

Good thing I was about to mate into the family. Greeeeat.

Joyee Flynn

And if that wasn’t bad enough…
“Is he okay?” a man asked as he walked into the trauma room

with another one. Damn if they weren’t brothers. I glanced down at
my mate, realizing they had the same hair and eyes, big build as well.

“Just how many people are in this family I’m mating into?” I

groaned, seriously thinking they might be more than I could handle.

The bigger of the two turned his gaze on me, narrowing his eyes.

“We’ll see if you’re good enough to mate our baby brother.” Was he
serious? I raised an eyebrow from my seated position. He moved
closer to me as if trying to intimidate me with his size. I smirked and
stood to my full six-ten height, smiling when I had him beat by a few
inches. It looked like he was about six eight.

“Are we going to whip them out next?” I asked in a sarcastic tone.

“You don’t get a vote in whether we mate.” I nodded down toward
the unconscious man on the table, my voice softening until it was just
above a whisper as I took in the beaten and battered form that was
Damian again. “Only he does.”

“I think he’ll fit in just fine.” Desmond chuckled, shaking his

head.

“I swear I’m going to start adopting random women as daughters

just to even out the testosterone levels in the house,” Elena grumbled.

And I had a feeling I would need to start drinking heavily to deal

with this family.

Damian

Chapter 2

Damian

“Hey, amante,” a gorgeous man said as I opened my eyes. “Ay

dios mío, you are a looker. I’m going to have to keep both eyes on
you at all times.” He smiled sweetly at me, his amber eyes sparkling.

“Huh?” My head felt like a boulder had rolled over it several

times, and now it was apparent I had some stranger watching me
while I slept? I took a deep breath before blasting the guy and telling
him where to shove it. Oh, right. My mate. Whoops. “Not Amante.
Damian,” I mumbled, figuring that was as good of a start as any.

“I know your name.” He chuckled as he leaned forward to

whisper in my ear. “Amante means lover in my native tongue, mate of
mine.”

“Oh,” I replied, clearing my throat and trying not to notice how

great he smelled. His scent was wonderful and fresh—a mixture of
pine and the smell of being outside right after it had rained. “Who are
you?”

“Cyrus Diaz,” he purred in my ear as he moved his body closer to

me. How had I not noticed he’d been sitting on the bed with me and
was now lying down? I felt my heart rate go up a couple notches as he
opened his mouth to speak. His voice was deep and smooth and
velvety and amazing. “You don’t remember meeting me. It’s okay,
you were pretty banged up. It will come back to you.”

And just like that it did. “No.”
“It’s okay, I got you, amante,” he whispered as I started to shake. I

tried to push him away, but arms like steel wrapped around me.

Joyee Flynn

“Keep calm and breathe. Nothing is going to hurt you here and
everything’s been taken care of. Your only concern is getting better
and answering my questions.”

“Your questions?” I asked, gasping for air as my heart raced and I

remembered everything. “Why do you have questions for me?”

“Well, your family needs to know, too, but I pulled rank as your

mate and said I alone would talk to you.” I glanced up into his kind
amber eyes and didn’t know if that was the sweetest thing ever or
presumptuous. A little of both probably. “Want to tell me what
happened and how you got to that club?”

Just like that my heart broke. “No,” I said as I pushed him away,

hard enough to get some distance between us. This nice man would
never understand the depravities in my head and what I needed. And I
couldn’t be honest with him any more than I ever could my family or
friends.

“Really? You’re telling me no?” His voice went cold and hard,

and for whatever reason, I found myself stopping my struggles and
looking at him. “I think we both know why you were at that club,
amante. I want you to tell me right now and I will reward you. But
make no mistake, deny me again or ever lie to me, and you will be
punished.” I couldn’t keep back the shiver of lust at the idea of him
punishing me. “Yes, you will make a wonderful mate.”

I realized he’d busted me. All these years, no one in my life knew

my secret, but within five minutes Cyrus knew. “How did you
know?” I heard myself asking, shocked I could even have made my
mouth work I was so floored.

“Because we are two halves of one whole, amante,” he answered

gently, moving us so we were both lying on our sides in bed, facing
each other. Cyrus brushed one of my errant chestnut-brown curls out
of my face. “Fate would not have given me someone who does not
enjoy what I do in life and sexually. So when I finally got Riley to
spill what he knew about what happened, I put some of the pieces
together. You went there to be dominated, yes?”

Damian

“Yes,” I sighed, glad I didn’t have to say the words. “I found a

man who was attractive enough and seemed to be into my brand of
sex. We talked for a while, laid down rules, and the next thing I knew
I was barely functioning as if I drank a case of vodka.”

“This man drugged you?” He looked surprised and pissed as his

eyes widened but his eyebrows furrowed.

I narrowed my eyes and growled. “I’m not a moron. I’m a trained

warrior. No way some human sitting next to me sneaks slipping
something into my drink. It had to have been the bartender because he
was there when I woke up.”

“So you are not a true submissive,” he replied, smiling widely.
“Wait—huh?” I asked, confused on the sudden topic change. I

still wasn’t functioning on all cylinders and I was hurting bad.

“You snapped at me and got defensive. You are not a true

submissive who is into the lifestyle.” It was a statement, but I could
see the questioning look that he wanted more than that.

“No. I’m not a sub. I’ve been with a few men who’ve trained me

as one, but I don’t embrace the full lifestyle.” I raised an eyebrow at
him, raking him with my gaze. “And you need to know that up front. I
won’t sit at your feet, wear a collar, or follow you around like a wimp.
So if that’s what you’re looking for, keep looking.”

“I’m not,” he purred, moving his hands over my chest. I could feel

their warmth through the thin fabric of the hospital gown I was
wearing. “I do not want weak and needy in my life. But when the
bedroom door closes?”

“Yes.” I wasn’t sure how he’d respond. We both knew it meant I

was saying yes, I’m submissive in bed and want to be dominated. I
just hoped he could handle how I liked to be handled. It was
somewhat extreme, and I’d had several tops and Doms tell me I was
just fucked up. But then again, they were humans, and blood meant
something different to them.

“This is good.” Cyrus’s face lit up with a wide smile. “I think we

are to be well suited for each other, amante.”

Joyee Flynn

“You don’t know how far I go to enjoy—” I started to say when

there was a loud pounding at the door.

“What?” Cyrus shouted over his shoulder.
“Open the door. I heard his voice. You can question him all you

want and get the story, but I’m coming in to see my boy,” my mother
answered with a growl from the other side of the door. I chuckled,
completely used to her protective ways.

“Su madre es un dolor en el culo,” Cyrus muttered as he rolled out

of the bed and got to his feet.

“Did you just call my mother a pain in the ass?” I asked with wide

eyes. My mate shrugged and unlocked the door.

“So you know Spanish.” He cleared his throat nervously then

turned to me, his face serious. “She is though.”

“Not really. I had a Hispanic instructor through warrior training,

so I know that phrase well. I can pick out a few things here and
there.”

“But I’m fluent.” My mother snickered as she opened the door.

Cyrus’s eyes went wide, and he realized she’d heard what he said
even though he’d been quiet and there had been a door between them.
She pulled his shoulder down and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
“You’re a pain in my ass, too.” Her voice was sugary sweet.

“Yes, Madre Marius,” he said in a chagrined voice.
“Damn, you’re tall.” I hadn’t noticed before and probably

wouldn’t have because most of us towered over our poor mother. But
Victor had walked in the room, and my mate was bigger. “Aww, Vic,
you’re not the biggest anymore. Poor you.”

“Snot-nosed little brat,” Victor replied, rolling his eyes, but then

he got serious. “We already went to the Council before they heard
what happened some other way. While five missing people in DC
might not hit the media’s radar, five knowing each other will.”

“You said you wouldn’t tell anyone,” I said quietly, no longer

wanting to tease. I glanced around and saw it was my whole family.
“You lied to me.”

Damian

“No, he didn’t,” Riley sighed. I hadn’t even seen him and Micah

come in the room. “I told my nurse not to tell anyone I was going out
to help you and would need a bed for you here. I didn’t give her your
name though. Mara heard the pilot over the radio say your name,
didn’t know you were the same patient, and called next of kin as is
procedure. I am sorry, but we did need your parents’ blood to save
you.”

“Okay. Um, thanks,” I mumbled to my parents, not liking that

everyone was staring at me.

“You okay?” my mother asked gently as she sat on the bed and

wrapped her arms around me. “Don’t you ever scare me like that
again. Huge mate or not, I will beat you if I ever get a call like that
again.”

“Of course, Mother.” I snickered. “I’ll warn all the bad guys I’m

off-limits.”

“You do that,” she sniffled.
“I’m okay, Mommy,” I whispered in her ear just so only she could

hear. I felt her nod. Yeah, I might have been seventy-six years old and
a warrior, but in our world that was nothing. I was barely a pup. And
sometimes, as the baby of the family, it was only fair to act like it
when the situation was appropriate.

“So, as I was saying,” Victor said, clearing his throat.
I glanced up at him and saw the hurt in his eyes. I mouthed I’m

sorry to him, and he gave me a nod. I shouldn’t have jumped on him
that he betrayed my confidence behind my back. Vic was up-front. If
he was going to tell everyone, he would have just said it whether I
liked it or not.

“We went to the Council after you stabilized because there

weren’t just the five humans you told us about, Damian.”

“It was five. I didn’t hurt anyone else.” I shook my head, sure I

knew how many men I had killed.

“You didn’t, but they did,” Victor said gently. I felt my eyes go

wide as my mother held me tighter, laying her head on my shoulder as

Joyee Flynn

she rubbed my back. “There were a dozen bodies at the back of that
warehouse, Damian. You weren’t the first, and you weren’t going to
be their last either.”

“So what happens now with the Council?” I asked quietly,

knowing I was in shock.

“According to them, it never happened. You were injured on a

mission and will get some time off for medical reasons. But other than
that, they are dealing with it through back channels to the human
authorities. Those twelve missing were a big deal and all over the
news. They had no leads, no idea who was doing all the killing. You
stopped that, bro.” Victor smiled as if full of pride.

“Are you fucking shitting me?” I exclaimed, moving away from

my mother and getting out of bed, hospital gown be damned. Victor’s
eyes went wide with shock as I’m sure most everyone was feeling. I
was the quiet one, the goofy one, the baby. I never stood up to any of
them. “I get drugged at a club that you, Micah, and Riley looked at
me like I was a freak for going to, and then you saw how much
damage they did to me before I freaked out and killed them—”

“Get out,” Cyrus snarled as he grabbed me from behind and put

his hand over my mouth. “This is too much for him after what he
went through.” I kept struggling, but I was still hurt and weak.
“Amante, don’t do this. I’m not the enemy. Neither is your brother,
okay? Your emotions are spiraling after such a trauma. Hold it
together and we’re going to relax.”

I nodded, the energy and strength to fight leaving me. Victor came

closer as everyone else walked out the door.

“I don’t care what happened or how things went down. I will still

always be proud of you, Damian. We were shocked that the baby of
the family was at such a club. Nothing more,” he said gently. “And
since we all knew what the club was…” He trailed off.

My eyes went wide with understanding. “Really?”
“Sometimes it’s fun to take a walk on the wild side.” He chuckled

and gave me a wink. “But you still took down five armed men while

Damian

drugged and in the shape you were in. Yeah, I’m fucking proud of
you and even prouder to be the one you called when you needed
help.” He glanced up at my mate, fixing him with an intense stare.
“There isn’t just the eight of us. Damian is beloved around here,
especially by the warriors. You hurt him, and I promise you there
won’t be anywhere you can hide. Yeah?”

“Yeah, I hear you,” Cyrus replied with a growl. “I would never

hurt my mate.”

“I’m not talking physically, Antonio,” Victor said, rolling his

eyes. “You’d never get the drop on Damian. He’s wicked fast and
gifted. I’m talking about hurting him as only a mate can.”

“So was I,” my mate replied. I had just one question.
“Who’s Antonio?”
Victor threw back his head and laughed as he left, closing the door

behind him since he was the last one out.

“Your brother keeps calling me Antonio, like Antonio Banderas,

because of my accent,” Cyrus grumbled as he led me back to the bed.
“He’s charming, by the way.”

“You better get used to it.” I snickered as he walked around to the

other side of the bed and lay down with me. “I’m the baby of the
family and Victor’s not only the eldest and my brother. He’s like my
best friend. You’ll like him, everyone does. I think he’s just worried
because we met after what I just went through.”

“Don’t kid yourself, amante,” he said gently as he pulled me to lie

half on his chest and body. “Part of it is yes, you are the baby. But so
far your brothers are mated to smaller men, yes?”

“Yeah, I mean Riley isn’t as small as the others, but yeah, my

brothers are the bigger ones of the couple.” And just like that the
lightbulb went off over my head. “He’s figured out why I was at the
club, hasn’t he?”

“Probably. But he didn’t pick on you or judge you and made a

point to say he loved you and was proud of you. I don’t think he
cares. He’s worried.” He sighed as he rubbed my back, trailing his

Joyee Flynn

fingers over the top of my ass. “I do respect him after seeing the way
he is with you. I’m sure I’ll like him later though.”

“Okay.” I started to get turned on, and I realized I had yet to even

kiss my mate. I mean, yeah, we didn’t meet under the best
circumstances for that and all. And we’d been interrupted earlier and
nothing killed the mood like having one’s mother come in. But now
we were alone and he was touching me. “This is weird.”

“What is, amante? Me touching you?” Cyrus asked hesitantly as

his hand stopped moving.

Oh shit. I said that out loud. Crap. Fuck. Damn. Uuughhh!
“No, I like that,” I admitted, trying to make sure I didn’t hurt his

feelings. “But this, with me and you, it’s weird. It feels so natural. We
just talked with my family as if we didn’t just meet, and lying here
with you is like instinct, like I couldn’t picture it any other way
anymore. Does that make any sense?”

“Sí, amante.” He chuckled, rolling us in a move so fast and

graceful, I didn’t even register any pain. Cyrus cupped my cheek as
he stared down at me, gently inserting his massive body between my
legs. “Something inside of you clicked before we’ve ever claimed
each other and now life without the other sounds worse than death.”

“Yes,” I breathed, amazed at how beautifully he phrased it. “I’m

yours and every cell in my body knows it.”

“Good.” He got a feral smile on his face as his eyes became dark

with lust and possession. I felt a healthy dose of lust shoot through my
body as well. “Ay dios mío, your mother’s not the only one and not
only for anger.”

Though his words were cryptic, I knew what he meant. “Yes, I’m

the only one of my siblings who inherited the trait.” Our normally
kelly-green eyes lightened to almost translucent when we were pissed,
or for me, turned on as well. I didn’t know what my mother’s eyes
looked like then. Yuck. “Too much?”

“No, I love it. It’s like I can see right into your soul.” Wow. My

hot Spanish mate really knew how to make a guy swoon! “You are

Damian

not well enough for sex, but I will take care of your growing need.”
He rubbed his scrubs-covered cock against mine, and I realized we
were both rock hard. “As soon as you agree to let me claim you.”

“Uh-huh,” I muttered, focused on the desire part and lifting my

hips to meet his. I wanted his lips on mine, too, and all over my body.

“Amante,” he chastised, clicking his tongue. “You must focus

first. Then we play.”

“I don’t even get a kiss before you bind us together forever?” I

asked, pouting a little. It seemed like kissing would be the first step.

“Of course, how ungentlemanly of me.” His mouth crushed down

on mine, and I realized he’d been waiting for my invitation. Nice.

Cyrus kissed like no man should have been able to. He wasn’t

sloppy or slobbery, but yet was everywhere all at once. His teeth, lips,
tongue, were all so active that I couldn’t do much but enjoy it and
submit. Oh, I was still giving a response, but I wasn’t fighting for
control of the kiss. I let the master here do his thing.

Where had he learned to kiss like this? I clutched him closer,

snaking my hand behind his head and twining my fingers in the
smooth locks of his black hair, the part of me rarely used, my Alpha
male, taking over. He was mine. Cyrus was all mine, forever.

That was the only thought I had in my head as I ripped my mouth

off of his, let my fangs run out, and bit into his neck hard.

“Yes, I’ll be yours,” Cyrus moaned, and I realized I didn’t even

ask. Fuck! I was screwing everything up. I pulled my fangs right back
out before I even swallowed a drop of blood. “Why did you stop?”

“I realized I didn’t ask,” I mumbled, completely mortified.

“You’re a master at kissing and I realized you’ve had a lot of practice
and—”

“And the idea made you see red and you claimed me,” he finished

for me matter-of-factly. I nodded against his shoulder, too frightened
to glance at the expression on his face. “Damian, you weren’t going to
leave this bed without officially belonging to me. I was the one who
brought up claiming you. Didn’t you think you’d claim me as well?”

Joyee Flynn

“Of course.” I snickered, rolling my eyes. “I’m not stupid. I know

how it works. It’s just good manners to ask permission first.”

“Fair enough, amante,” he purred, rubbing his body against me

suggestively. “Claim me, please. Am I allowed to claim you?”

“Yes,” I hissed, sinking my fangs back into his neck. My body

shuddered as I felt his teeth slice through my skin. Cyrus started
grinding his pelvis against mine, pushing me into the bed. I was all for
that, wanting even more contact as lights flashed behind my eyes.

My mate grunted on top of me, and I felt wet heat as he came in

his pants. Oh fuck, that was hot! I whimpered and cried out as I did
the same, unable to stop it no matter what training I’d had.

I lifted my head, gasping at the swirling sensations through me.

His blood was fantastic, and made me almost light-headed it was so
good. The orgasm was still giving me small aftershocks that I never
wanted to stop. And I felt loved. I was mated and claimed and his.

But I wanted the next step to be somewhere other than this

cramped hospital bed. When we were both done, bites closed, and
lying next to each other, I asked the question.

“When are we going home? Or I guess, when can I leave the

clinic?”

“Riley said you can go as soon as you feel up to it since I’m going

to be with you and know how to take care of you.”

“Okay, cool. Then let’s get home. I want food and my bed.” I

rolled out of his arms and got to my feet, wiggling my eyebrows at
him. “With you in it.” He stared at me with wide eyes until I started to
feel uncomfortable. “What?”

“You think I’m moving in with your madre and family? No way.

They’re breathing down my neck as it is, and don’t you guys move
out when you get mated?”

“No,” I whispered, shaking my head. “The house is bigger than

the warrior compound and clinic combined. You don’t like my
family?”

Damian

“Amante,” he sighed, his expression softening. “We all met under

intense circumstances. It’s hard to get off on the right foot then. I
don’t dislike them, I’m sure I’ll like them fine…as long as I don’t
have to live with them.”

“So where do you live?” I asked, narrowing my eyes in suspicion.

I had an idea, and if I was right, my mate was insane.

“I have a room at the compound,” he answered, holding up his

hand when I went to bitch. “It’s not ideal, but until we find a place of
our own, we can stay there. You’re supposed to be resting anyways,
so it shouldn’t matter.”

“My brother-in-law, who lives at home, is the doctor,” I blurted

out in disbelief. “Your idea sucks. And this is rural Virginia, Cyrus.
You can’t just head over to the nearest rental agency or condo
association and see what’s available. There’s estates and farms and
vineyards for hours around us and only small towns. No. I’m staying
at home with my family. Which should be including you now.”

“Out of the question—” he shouted, and I realized we weren’t

going to get anywhere this way, so I decided to switch tactics.

“Okay, I’ll catch a ride with Vic and see you when you get home.”

I started collecting my belongings, which someone had left in the
room for me so I didn’t worry. I also grabbed the scrubs that were
folded neatly for me on the counter.

“No, I’m not living at the Marius estate,” he said firmly, crossing

his arms over his chest in what I saw to be a very childish gesture.

“Well I am,” I replied with a smirk. “And if you want to be with

me, you will. Or at least try it, check out the place. I have a suite
that’s like a condo in itself. It’s not like we all live on top of each
other.”

He let out a belt of laughter, shaking his head. “You’re really not a

submissive, are you, amante?”

“No, but normally I am more passive and easygoing than this,” I

answered, giving him my most charming smile. “This isn’t something

Joyee Flynn

I’m willing to budge on though just because you don’t want to or are
scared of my family.”

His face fell, and I knew it was the wrong thing to say. “I’m not

scared of them. Just not used to anything besides living by myself.
My family was killed a long time ago, my whole coven actually, back
in Spain. I’m not sure I know how to be in a family anymore.”

Fuck! “I’m an ass. I should have asked about your family.” I

moved over to him and threw my arms around him, tilting my head
back to look into his eyes. “It’s just you made it sound like you didn’t
want to because some ego thing about living with my parents.”

“I know I did and that wasn’t right either. We can try it, but I

reserve the right to discuss it again later if I’m not happy there.” He
held me tightly, letting me know the fight was over.

“That’s more than fair. All I ask is you give it a chance. My

family is wonderful and they’re going to love you.”

“Okay, amante. I will try for you.”
“Thank you.” I was thrilled at his words. He’d see. We’d be very

happy there. I knew it in my heart.

Damian

Chapter 3

Cyrus

I glanced around my mate’s suite in the Marius house. We’d

managed to get into the house and up here without too many of the
family stopping us. Now it was time to check out what I was going to
be calling home from now on.

I stepped tentatively through the door and onto the plush silver

carpeting. It seemed that I had entered what could be called the living
room. It was decorated stylishly with two big, black leather couches
and a leather armchair. Beside each couch stood cube-shaped end
tables made of glass. I took a few steps forward and laid my hand on
the couch, feeling the cool, smooth, supple leather beneath my palm.
There was a big flat-screen TV mounted on the wall with framed
prints of Chinese ink paintings on either side of it.

Attached to the living room was a motel-size kitchenette. There

was a miniature stainless-steel refrigerator with a microwave that had
a few cabinets above and below it. The cabinets above the microwave
had doors made of glass framed in black wood while those below
were made entirely of the same black wood. I noticed that the cabinets
above held decorative gray and black bowls and plates organized in
neat stacks. Curious, I opened the lower cabinets and smiled upon
finding a disorganized jumble of Tupperware containers, reusable
water bottles, and plastic bags.

After perusing the kitchenette, I made my way to the guest room,

which was pretty sparse. It contained only a queen-size bed, a single
nightstand, and a dresser. Of course all the furniture was made of

Joyee Flynn

gorgeous, polished dark wood and the bedcovers were beautiful and
intricate, but it was just an immaculately clean room with no personal
touches.

Across from the guest room was Damian’s room, and I hoped it

would be more interesting than this room. When I stepped inside, I
found something entirely different from the rest of his suite. Damian
had gone with a cabin theme. So all the furniture was made of huge
logs that had been stripped down and polished, and when I peeked
inside the spacious bathroom, the toothbrush holder and soap dish
were both little bear figurines. Interesting.

Overall, Damian’s suite was huge and beautiful and impressive. It

definitely put the room I had been staying at in the warrior compound
to shame.

When I was done walking through the whole suite, I focused on

my mate,  who was practically bouncing from one foot to the other
with nerves. I gave him a wide smile,  and Damian visibly relaxed
immediately.

“I like it,” I said firmly, letting him know I wasn’t just blowing

smoke up his ass. “I think we might need to turn the study or the guest
room into a play room, but I like it very much.”

Something flickered over Damian’s face, making him look almost

scared and nervous at the same time. I decided to get everything out
of the way and then we could address it.

“And now for the rules.” I sat on the overstuffed armchair in his

bedroom, drumming my fingers momentarily on the smooth hunter-
green fabric, and pointed for him to sit on the bed. He nodded and did
so right away. “I’ve already explained I don’t want a true submissive
mate and that was the truth. In the real world we are partners, equals,
and I do not wish you to change who you are in the slightest for me.
But in our suite, the moment that door closes, I am the boss, amante.”

“What does that mean?” Damian asked hesitantly, his voice small,

looking even more afraid. “I have no will or say?”

Damian

“No, never like that,” I answered gently, realizing I was worrying

him when there was no need. “I mean there are certain things I will
require of you as your mate and the master of your body. Like, I want
you naked… Always. Even if we’re just sitting and watching TV, I
want you naked for my viewing pleasure and so I always have easy
access to play with my mate. And I normally will want you on my
lap, as close to me as possible.”

“Okay,” he whispered and nodded, looking as if he might break

into tears. “Whatever you want, Cyrus.”

“But it is not what you want,” I said quietly, my heart falling.

“Damian, I don’t own you. These rules are supposed to be for both
our enjoyment. I thought you liked being submissive when it comes to
sex?”

“Well, yeah. It’s fine.” I snarled and was on him in a second. I

pushed him back to the bed, careful of his injuries but making sure
my bigger frame surrounded him.

“Don’t you ever lie to me,” I growled, his eyes going wide in

shock. “I am your mate, and while I will be the master of your
pleasure and body, I am not your master. Do you understand the
difference?”

“Yes. I just didn’t want to upset you by saying no all the time

right off the bat.”

“While I appreciate that, we need to be able to talk about things,”

I replied, realizing there was something else going on here. “But don’t
ever lie to me. That’s not how a healthy mated couple works.”

“I promise.” He pursed his lips for a kiss, trying to raise himself

up, but I had his shoulders pinned down. I chuckled and gave him a
soft one, letting him feel the love that was already blossoming for
him.

“Now, is it that you do not want to always be naked around me or

the sitting on my lap that upset you?” I asked, raising an eyebrow as if
daring him to lie to me again.

Joyee Flynn

“I’m not sure I’d fit on your lap, but I’m okay with that. It’s the

naked thing. I’m not sure I could do it, especially if you’re clothed.” It
was an honest answer and not like he was screaming at me that I was
off my rocker.

“Have you not done lengthy scenes with your past Doms that

require you to be naked for a long time?” As much as I hated to hear
about his previous lovers, I had a feeling I needed to know more
about his past sexual encounters after some of the comments he’d
made. I slowly moved off of him and sat back in the chair, realizing
he might need space before making this confession. I watched as he
took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair before
answering.

“Yes, but normally I was chained down and there was only

candlelight. I didn’t prance around naked. Most times I was fully
clothed and had most of my clothes cut off of me when—” His eyes
went wide and he started to shake.

“Tell me,” I ordered, none too gently.
“You’re going to think I’m such a fucked-up freak,” he

whispered, shaking his head in sadness as he got off the bed. I was
curious when he knelt down and pulled out a large green Tupperware
container for storing shoes under the bed. I gasped when he set it on
the bed and snapped open the lid. “I’m sick, Cyrus. There’s
something wrong with me, isn’t there?”

I wanted to say no, but looking at the self-inflicting torture

devices in the name of sexual pleasure in the container, I couldn’t. It
wasn’t just floggers and handcuffs, like I had planned on using on
him. Oh no, this went so much further than that.

“I will not say that, but I was not prepared for this,” I answered

carefully, doing my best to focus on my mate rather than the
frightening contraptions in the container. “So you are obviously into
pain with your sex.”

“It’s not sex if there’s no blood.” He chuckled nervously, not

looking at me purposely. I had an idea, and I prayed to whoever was

Damian

listening that I was right. I stood and moved toward him, carefully
gauging his reaction.

“You like the feeling of pain as your flesh is pierced, no?”
“Yes,” he mumbled, glancing down at his feet as he shivered.
“Do you like to be cut on your bits and pieces?”
“Not specifically, but the pain is more extreme but never quite

enough. It’s like I can’t find the right pain, so I keep going deeper and
asking for more,” he admitted, his shoulders slumped, looking as if
someone had just run over his puppy. “Maybe there’s just no way to
satisfy the fucked-up.”

That was the answer I’d been looking for. I knew what my poor

mate needed and had been searching for without success. I grabbed
him roughly from behind, one arm around his chest as my other hand
moved into his pants. I extended my fangs and bit into him roughly,
almost savagely.

“Oh god!” Damian screamed as he went pliant in my arms,

completely submissive and slumped against me. He shivered, gasping
in pleasure as I grabbed his hard cock and stroked him forcefully to
where there should have been a little pain. It only took three times
jacking him before he whimpered and came. My mate came so hard
his body actually bucked as if unable to keep himself standing.

I pulled my fangs out of his neck, gently holding him through the

aftershocks, as I stroked his flagging dick. “Tell me, amante, was that
one of the best orgasms you’ve ever had?”

“Yes, fucking spectacular,” he panted, still lying collapsed against

me as if needing me in every way and trusting me to hold him up.

“You are not sick in the head, my mate,” I whispered gently as I

moved us to lie down on his bed.

“I’m not?” he mumbled, sounding completely sated.
“No, bebé,” I replied, swallowing back my sadness and emotions.

How long had my sweet mate gone through his life thinking he was
mentally sick? “You’re a biter. You like to be bitten and to bite, too,

Joyee Flynn

most likely. This is not something that can be fulfilled with humans.
Have you never had relations with another vampire?”

“No, all the warriors treat me like a little brother and are too afraid

of Victor. I’ve been hit on and propositioned, but by then I knew I
was into extreme pain and didn’t want to risk anyone telling.” He
sounded so lost. It made me realize something else.

“You are just a bebé, right? I mean I know you are of this family,

but how old are you really?”

“Seventy-six,” he mumbled in reply. Wow! I thought he was

young, but in our world that was like being a seventeen-year-old
human and barely knowing what’s really out there. Not quite the same
but close enough.

“Then do not feel bad, Damian. Most vampires are into the exact

same kind of pain. We have fangs. Of course we’re biters. I love
fangs to pierce my cock when I get a blow job. What you’ve been
looking for is not sick or uncommon.”

“I wish I had known that all these years,” he whispered, and my

heart hurt for him. Yes,  he was young, but to carry this burden of
thinking he was sick all this time could have warped his mind. My
mate would need lots of special attention to see himself  as I did. “I
had so many Doms call me a sick fuck. The ones who would play
with me I think were even sicker than I was.”

I cleared my throat, letting him know that wasn’t okay to say.
“Or I thought I was,” he amended. “I let them cut me up and do

messed-up things to me, trying to find what I needed.”

Another piece of the puzzle that was my mate fell into place.

“That’s why you weren’t healing like you should. You deprived
yourself of blood so you would heal human slow when engaging in
sexual activities.”

“Yes.” The more he talked, the more despondent he got and that

was not what I wanted for our first day together. I had enough
information, and now it was time to start healing my mate’s soul.

Damian

“Boxer briefs then. I require you to always be in boxer briefs. I

normally am in the same in my room when I’m alone anyways, so
you won’t feel awkward.” I needed him to start understanding that
there was nothing wrong with the naked body and his desires. But it
would take baby steps.

“I can do that,” he replied, sounding slightly happier. “I’d like it if

you were always half-naked.”

“What about fully naked right now, making love to my gorgeous

mate?”

“Yes, please,” Damian whimpered, the sound going right to my

cock. “Will you bite me again?”

“Always, amante,” I purred as I started to undress him. “I will

take you places you’ve never been before.”

“Sounds nice,” he panted, rolling onto his back and staring up at

me with those wondrous kelly-green eyes. Already they were
changing color again, becoming lighter and almost iridescent.

“Get lube,” I growled as I drank in his naked, firm, muscular,

sexy-as-all-fuck body. My mate nodded and quickly rolled over and
reached into the nightstand as I yanked off my scrubs. By the time he
was back to me, I had removed all my clothes.

“You’re gorgeous,” he whispered with a tone of awe, and then his

eyes went wide. “And huge! Fuck! That thing is like monster truck
size.”

“You like?” I chuckled, palming my cock. It was rather large,

probably at least twelve inches and wider than any I’d ever seen.

“Yes, don’t stretch me,” Damian moaned as his eyes glazed over

with lust.

“Oh, my amante likes pain in his ass as well, does he?” Damian

nodded as he handed me the lube, still focused on my dick as he
licked his lips. The little imp. I knew I wouldn’t last long with the
looks he was giving me and needed to get into his sweet ass before I
exploded. “On your back.”

Joyee Flynn

“Yes, master,” he purred, and I raised an eyebrow at him. “No

good?”

“I do not like that word,” I answered with a nod as he moved into

position. “I master your pleasure, not you.”

“What do I get to call you then?” I knew what I wanted. It had

always been the one thing I wanted and waited to hear when I found
my mate.

“I’d like it if you called me mi alma, my soul,” I whispered as I

placed my body in between his legs.

“I like that. Mi alma,” he said with a smile. “It’s romantic.”
I nodded but inside was shivering. I knew nothing of romance.

Sure, I could be loving, affectionate, and tender in the bedroom at
times, but real romance was more than just sex and scared the living
shit out of me.

Not wanting him to focus on the term and the moment, I quickly

slicked up my cock and rubbed some excess lube around his hole.
“Are you sure you wouldn’t like to be prepared better?”

“Yes, I like the burn,” he admitted, his cheeks heating with

embarrassment. I’m sure he did, but I was well-endowed and I was
worried I’d hurt him. But our first time together I couldn’t doubt him
or make it seem as if what he wanted was wrong in some way. I
nodded and leaned over him as I moved my cock to his hole.

Licking his nipple, I teased his ass. Damian moaned and squirmed

under me. Then I let him see my fangs were out before I bit his right
nipple, at the same time thrusting just the head of my cock inside of
him.

“Fuck!” he shouted, bucking under me. Then he paused. “Do you

want me quiet or loud?”

I pulled out my fangs, making sure not to lick the bite closed just

yet. “I prefer loud, but I want to hear your natural pleasure, not
something forced.”

“I’m normally loud, but I know it displeases some Doms.”

Damian

“Scream away, amante,” I purred, pushing more of my cock into

him. Damian gasped in pleasure and arched his back. “I like a little
dirty talk if that is okay?”

His cock twitched against his stomach, already filled back up, and

I knew he more than liked the idea.

“See, we are perfectly matched,” I groaned in bliss, knowing he

liked everything I did. That and his ass was exquisite. The fit was too
tight, and it felt as if he might strangle my cock, but it was wondrous.
“You want more, my little slut? Beg for my cock.”

His eyes went wide, his head snapping up to look at me, and I

froze, thinking I’d gone too far. “Please, mi alma, fuck me so hard it
hurts. Take me like the whore I am. Your whore only.” I shivered.
Damian was perfect. I grabbed his hips tightly, letting my short nails
sink into his flesh and thrust forward hard, bottoming out inside of
him as I bit into his other nipple. “Yes! Fuck your slut. Oh god, I’ve
never been so full!”

“Is this tight ass all mine, Damian?” I growled, raking my fangs

over his collarbone when I was done with his nipple. “Your hole is
just begging for me to fill it, isn’t it?”

“Yes, yes,” he gasped, raising his hips to meet mine. I was

impressed that such a tight hole could even accommodate me and that
he liked it. Then again, after some of the shit I saw in that container,
the pain he was feeling now was mild compared to what he’d tried
before. “I’m all yours, mi alma. My ass is just for your cock whenever
you want.”

“Right answer.” I slammed into him at a punishing pace, harder

than I would normally start off my first time with a new partner.
Damian went wild, shouting some of the dirtiest, sexiest things I’ve
ever heard in bed. I made a mental note to send a thank-you card or
gift basket to fate if I ever found her.

When I could tell Damian needed to come, on the edge, I realized

something. He wouldn’t until I told him to, not unless I caught him
off guard like earlier or when I claimed him. Oh fuck, that was hot! I

Joyee Flynn

reached down and stroked his cock, making him freak out even more,
wanting to come.

“Please,” he begged. “Please say yes, mi alma.”
“Not yet,” I grunted, fucking him harder. “I want us to come

together, and I like watching you on the edge.”

It didn’t take long for me to be right there with him. My mate in

the throes of passion was a thing of beauty, and I couldn’t wait any
longer. I let go of his dick and moved my arms under his shoulders,
getting better leverage to go deeper into Damian.

“Come,” I ordered as I snarled and bit into his neck. He screamed

my name loud enough to rattle the window, and I had only a moment
to hope that the rooms were soundproof before I joined him. Fuck, I
didn’t just come… I exploded with the force of a NASA shuttle
liftoff. I climaxed so hard my balls actually hurt.

And that just set me off more. I didn’t slow down, gently pumping

my seed into his body. Oh no, I folded him in half and pounded into
him harder with every wave of my orgasm. It went on for what felt
like eternity as I drank from him. When it finally subsided, I extracted
my fangs and realized something was wrong.

“Damian?” I whispered as I lowered his legs down and lifted my

upper body so I could see him. “Bebé, are you okay?”

No, he was out. And normally I’d pat myself on the back for a job

well done in fucking my partner into passing out, but he’d just been
seriously injured. Even worse, I could barely hear his heartbeat. Fuck!

I quickly bit into my wrist and moved it to his open mouth. When

he didn’t instinctively respond, I started working his throat myself so
he would swallow. It took a few drinks, but then Damian moaned and
latched onto my flesh, his hand coming up to hold my arm to him.

“That’s it, take what you need, amante,” I cooed as his eyes

opened. “I am so sorry, Damian. I did not mean to take so much and
forgot about your injuries. You felt so good and tasted even better. I
was not in my right mind.”

Damian

He smiled around my wrist and gave me a wink. I’m not sure

what I ever did to deserve such a mate, but I would be forever
thankful.

“How old are you?” he asked after he was done, licking the bite

closed and then licking his lips. “Your blood is amazing. I feel like
doing cartwheels.”

“Well, as much as I’d like to see that, let’s wait until you’re

better.” I chuckled. Damian moaned and squirmed under me.

“Oh fuck, I’m hard again,” he whimpered. I realized then that I

was still inside of him and he felt that.

“As tempting as the offer is,” I groaned, wanting another round as

well. “We both need some rest after I bathe my injured mate.”

“Are you going to spoil me?” Damian teased as I pulled out of

him and lifted him into my arms.

“I’m going to try, amante. I’m not sure I’ll be any good at it, but I

will try.”

“What more could I need then?” He chuckled, snuggling up on

my shoulder. “But you didn’t answer the question.”

“Twelve hundred years old, give or take a decade,” I whispered in

his ear, knowing he was falling asleep.

“I got me a hot, older, warrior man.” He giggled. My eyes went

wide at the sound. Did he just giggle? I must have taken a good
amount of blood if he was loopy. I’d have to make sure I got more
into him after cleaning him up. “I totally lucked out in this mating
thing. I just hope you’re not disappointed.”

“Never. Never think that,” I said gently. “You take a nap while I

bathe you and then you’re going to drink a lot more blood before bed.
We shouldn’t have had sex already, but I just couldn’t resist you.”

“Good. Don’t. Don’t ever resist, mi alma. I need to know you

desire me and I please you.” Then his breathing evened out. I sighed,
not knowing if I could give him what he needed. I started the tub as I
held him on my lap. I’d been alone and on my own, seeing so much

Joyee Flynn

shit as a warrior medic that I didn’t think my heart could be soft and
kind anymore.

I’d been more loving and tender with Damian in this one time

than I had in decades combined. I felt as if my reservoir was empty.
But how did I fill it back up and become the loving man my mate
needed?

* * * *

Damian

“Su culo es tan jodidamente apretado que me vuelve loco,” my

mate grunted as he pounded his fat cock into me. That one I knew
because he said it every time we had sex. My ass is so fucking tight it
drives him insane. Not the most romantic thing to say, but since I
liked dirty talk during sex, I was okay with it.

I was even loving the fact that he’d jumped me in the shower and

I was now plastered face-first against the tile, his log of a cock hurting
my used hole so good. I had bite marks on my neck, back, and
shoulders, just as I loved. Everything was perfect.

In our sex life.
“Harder,” I begged, egging him on. “Fuck your dirty whore

harder, mi alma.”

“God, I love the way you talk to me,” he moaned, running his

fangs over my neck. He speared his meat into me as I shivered, the
hard tile biting into my cock as it moved over it. “Come for me,
Damian.”

His fangs pierced my neck, and since I’d already been given

permission, I let everything go. I cried out his name, my body
spasming around his as I rode out my orgasm. Cyrus roared around
my flesh and filled me with his seed.

I slumped back against him when we were done, unable to move

even if I wanted to. “It just keeps getting better and better, amante,”

Damian

he whispered in my ear tenderly. I relished these moments. The past
few weeks, these quick moments where I got a glimpse of a loving
mate were what kept me going through the rest of everything.

“Yes, it does,” I agreed as he pulled out of me. Cyrus gently

washed me up, making sure to take special care with my overworked
ass and hole. As he did, he licked closed all my bites, treating me as if
I was the most important thing in the world to him. I reached back,
pulling his head down to meet mine, and kissed him softly on the lips.
“Let’s go to a movie tonight or out to dinner. We haven’t been on a
real date yet.”

Cyrus went stiff and stopped what he was doing a moment before

he quickly finished, his motions going from tender to rushed and
almost uncaring. I sighed, knowing it was never going to happen.

“I’ve got to work today, amante,” he said as he started to wash

himself at lightning pace. He always reacted like this when I
suggested doing anything outside of our suite…together. “And you
need to rest and get your strength back. You’re still on medical
leave.”

“Yeah, but Riley gave me a clean bill of health,” I replied as I

stepped out of the shower. I grabbed a towel angrily and dried myself
off with quick, jerking movements. “I can’t think dinner and a movie
would wear me out more than the marathon of sex we’ve been having
when you’re home.”

“Are you complaining?” he asked seriously as he shut off the

water with a quick turn of the polished, gold handle. “I don’t
remember you doing anything besides screaming in pleasure,
Damian.” His voice had grown cold, distant, as if he was shutting
down and shutting me out even farther.

“Of course I’m not complaining,” I answered quickly. “I love our

sex life. Just why can’t we go out, too? There’s a great steak house in
town. Let’s go have a nice meal alone.”

Joyee Flynn

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize I had to woo you like some lovesick

girl,” he said angrily as he stepped out of the shower, grabbing a
towel as he stormed past me. Ouch!

“That’s not fair,” I said, mainly to myself because he had already

trudged angrily out of the bathroom and was now in the bedroom. I
followed him, not feeling like shit for upsetting him. “I just want to
have more than the fun we have in here.”

“We have fun in the living room and the play room, too,” he

grumbled as he dressed himself in his typical work attire—blue
scrubs. Which he only switched out for green ones. My mate didn’t
go all colorful or cutesy. I wasn’t going to get anywhere when he was
being like this, so I gave up.

I yanked on some old jeans with holes starting to develop on the

knees and sneakers that had once been white before grabbing my
rattiest sweatshirt. It was gray, the lettering on the front having peeled
off entirely with the hems fraying at the sleeves. “Where are you
going?”

“What do you care?” I shouted and stomped out of the bedroom.

Yeah, it was a cheap, mean shot, but after the lovesick girl comment, I
was pissed.

“Do not disrespect me like that, Damian. You will not shout at

me,” he yelled, barreling after me. His jaw was clenched, his face red,
and I could see one of the veins in his forehead pulsing as he stared at
me angrily.

“But you can to me?” I asked as I crossed my arms over my chest.

“Don’t you think what you said in the bathroom was disrespectful of
me and my feelings?”

“You are right, amante,” he sighed, his anger melting away as

quickly as an ice cube tossed in a cup of hot liquid. “I should not have
spoken to you like that. I am sorry.” He sank to his knees in front of
me and looked up at me with pleading eyes.

“Okay then. I’m sorry, too.” I leaned over and gave him a peck on

the lips. “Please just think about going out one night? I’m getting a

Damian

little stir-crazy, and I’d like us just to spend some time together to get
to know each other.” I reached down and took his hand in mine,
rubbing my thumb across the slightly rough skin of his knuckles.

“We know each other intimately,” he replied, the word caressing

me as if it was his hands. I shivered but then stopped myself. This was
how he always thwarted this conversation. By using sex.

I dropped his hand with a sigh and turned away to look out the

window, taking in the grass and trees. Which were green even though
it was December, thanks to Brian and Banning’s spectacular gift and
the fact they were over here yesterday to help Mother with some
plants. I felt Cyrus stand up behind me and the warmth of his hand as
he placed it on my shoulder, gently turning me to face him. His eyes
were searching mine as I looked at him.

“Cyrus, I don’t even know what your family’s names were. Did

you have siblings? Where in Spain were you born?” I said gently, not
wanting to argue again. “These are basic things mates should know
about each other. I just want us to know each other as well as we do
outside of the bedroom as we do in.”

I really didn’t think that was too much to ask. And I really thought

I was worth it. Wasn’t I?

Joyee Flynn

Chapter 4

Damian

He glanced at his watch and nodded as he looked away from me.

“I hear you, but I have to get going or I’m going to be late for work.”
Well, that was better than the previous times I brought it up. Maybe
he finally heard me. I took his hand, and we headed for the door.
“You did not answer me about where you were going?”

“I promised Banning and Brian that I’d come help at the vineyard

again today.” He dropped my hand the second we were in the
hallway, and I sighed as he adjusted the tie in his pants using both of
his hands. My mate was so anti-PDA that it drove me insane.

“Again?” he asked, his tone showing his disapproval. “If I didn’t

know they were in love with Zane, I might get jealous.”

“They’re not even my type.” I snickered as we walked down the

stairs. It was the first time he showed any possessive tendencies
besides claiming I was his and so was my tight ass. I liked it. It gave
me hope. “I’m not up to full training sessions yet, but they need the
help and I like the work. I’m so over hanging out in our suite and
doing nothing. This gets me back into being active slowly.”

“Alright, just make sure you don’t push yourself,” he replied, and

his tone sounded too much like a parent giving permission for me not
to bristle a bit. We walked into the kitchen for breakfast, finding most
everyone  was  there. I filled up my plate from the food dishes  filled
with fruit, eggs, bacon, and pancakes  on the counter of the island,
grabbed some coffee, and sat down.

Damian

Cyrus did the same, and as he always did, didn’t sit next to me. I

tried not to let it hurt. He’d let me know right off the bat that he
wasn’t an affectionate person around others, but that didn’t mean he
had to act so cold and as if I was a stranger to him. I glanced around
the table and saw how my mated brothers were sitting with their other
halves. Hell, Patrick was sitting on Stefan’s lap with a huge smile on
his face like always.

It’s not like I expected that since I was six-four and two hundred

and fifty pounds. But Micah and Riley were sitting next to each other,
brushing arms and bumping shoulders every so often as they made
goo-goo eyes at each other between mouthfuls of food. Why couldn’t
we just be like that?

“Thank you for the meal. It was wonderful, as always,” Cyrus said

politely to my mother, giving her a graceful head dip. He stood with
his plate and put it in the sink for the maid to clean later. On impulse I
jumped to my feet and met him by the kitchen door that led to the
garage where his car was.

“See you tonight after work, mi alma,” I whispered as I stood on

my toes and pursed my lips slightly, hinting that I wanted a kiss.
Cyrus stared at me indifferently for a moment and my heart fell as he
glanced over to my family covertly before focusing on me again. He
tapped my lips with his finger.

“I’ve asked you to only call me that in private,” he hissed under

his breath. “I’ll see you at dinner.” He brushed past me and out the
door without another word. I stood there like a moron, like a denied
child that had asked for a cookie. My eyes burned. I didn’t know how
to fill this distance between us. I hung my head slightly as I walked
back into the kitchen and sat down, staring forlornly into my coffee
cup.

“That is one cold bastard,” Victor growled.
“Victor!” my mother exclaimed, cuffing him upside the head.

Joyee Flynn

“No, I won’t apologize,” he said firmly, rubbing the back of his

skull absentmindedly while looking at me. “Is he always like that with
you? I mean does he show you any affection?”

“He’s not into PDA.” I shrugged, the answer sounding lame even

to my ears. “We’re still getting to know each other.” I waved a hand
between my brothers and their mates. “Not everyone can hop into
mating bliss. Sometimes the relationship has to grow to get to that
comfort level. Besides, it’s hard on him to be surrounded with my
family constantly.”

It was a reasonable excuse. Now if only I could even believe it.
“I’ve gotta get to the vineyard,” I mumbled quickly as I stood up

and moved to grab my keys off the pegs by the door that held all of
ours. I raced out the door, ignoring Victor calling my name. I felt like
a little kid more than being the baby in my family had ever caused me
to feel. I felt like a wimp because it hurt that my mate ignored me
outside the bedroom. I felt like a needy priss because I wanted more
than awesome sex.

I wanted him to wrap his arms around me when I needed it, not

caring who was in the room. I wanted him to kiss me because he
couldn’t stand not having his lips on me a moment longer. I wanted
him to love me!

It’s only been a couple of weeks, I reminded myself as I hopped

into my old SUV and took off. I wanted to drive the BMW my
brothers got me for my birthday, stating I was finally old enough to
handle that fast of a car with so many horses under the hood. But
since the vineyard was messy and had a dirt road, I didn’t want to risk
dinging my baby.

Wow, I just showed more consideration and affection to my damn

car than my mate does to me. I rolled my eyes. I did sound like some
lovesick drama queen who couldn’t get the popular boy’s attention.
Hopefully I wouldn’t have to resort to the lame games they played in
those movies to get things to change.

Damian

I jabbed the button to turn on the radio and tried to focus on

anything else as I drove to my friends’ vineyard, but it didn’t work.
The loud music couldn’t drown out my thoughts. I just kept mulling
over everything I’d done since we’d met and wondering where I
might have gone wrong. I kept coming back to the same conclusion.
The sex was great, but he didn’t love me. Cyrus didn’t even seem to
like me much. We didn’t talk, we didn’t just hang out, we fucked like
rabbits and slept in the same bed.

But he was basically a stranger to me, and I didn’t know how to

fix that. It’s not like I wanted to change him. I just wanted him to let
me in or have him give me some sign showing he cared. I didn’t get
anywhere thinking it all over by the time I got to the vineyard, and I
was in even worse of a mood from when I started the drive.

I hopped out, said a quick hello to both of them, and got right to

work, not really in the mood to socialize. I really hoped this wasn’t
the future I was looking at for eternity. Lovers in the bedroom,
snippets of tenderness that were supposed to hold me through the day,
like throwing a dog a bone, before we went our separate ways like
strangers. That seemed like hell on earth of a mating.

I worked like a fiend, furiously pulling out dead overgrowth all

along the salvageable trellises. They had a small mulcher that would
go down row after row to handle most of the stuff, but it had to be
pulled off the wooden trellises by hand. It was brainless, menial work
that I was glad for. It helped with my hurt feelings and brewing anger.

When I glanced at my phone and saw it was lunchtime, I decided

to head over to the warrior compound and see if my mate wanted to
eat with me. That was a common coupley thing to do, drop in on my
partner at work and see if he could have lunch. Maybe I was too
forward with my attention this morning. Maybe if I just showed him
that I wanted to spend more time with him doing simple things
instead of just whining about it, he’d take the hint.

I mean, one of us had to make the first move or this was going to

be a very, very lonely mating.

Joyee Flynn

I smiled, liking the idea more and more. I quickly raced to the

house and got washed up before promising I’d be back after lunch and
driving over to the hospital. It was time to put operation get to know
my mate into effect.

* * * *

Cyrus

“Hey, you got time to have lunch?” my gorgeous mate asked as he

walked into my office at the hospital. He looked nervous, and after
our fight this morning, I could understand how he might feel I didn’t
want him there. Being mated was harder than I thought. It took a lot
of time and my mate was affectionate.

For most people that would be a dream come true, but after

centuries of being alone and distant with everyone around me… It
was almost torture.

“Lunch sounds great,” I purred, glad we were going to have some

make-up sex. I stood and quickly led him to the supply closet, closing
the door behind us and locking it. The space smelled strongly of
cleaner, but the dim lighting made it intimate. I could only see a faint
outline of Damian. “Get naked, amante. I did not like how we left
things this morning. I need to claim you.”

“Oh, um, okay,” he mumbled sadly and started to undo his jeans.

“But I meant actual lunch, like eating. I thought we could just eat and
hang out. Talk some.”

Yeah, that sounded about as much fun as pulling out the hair on

my head. Who wanted to talk when we could spend our time loving
each other and sharing blissful passion? I just didn’t get him.

“Maybe another time if that’s okay? I want to touch my mate and

keep him all to myself,” I replied honestly, not sure how he would
take it.

Damian

Damian nodded and spun around to face the wall, but not before I

saw what I thought to be despair in his eyes. Even in the dark closet, I
could see better than most and swore my mate was in pain. Why? I
wanted to scream. Didn’t I lavish affection and passion on him? I took
care of him, showed him how much I worshiped the ground he
walked on, and brought him hours of bliss. Why was that not enough?

He dropped his pants, and all thoughts left my head. My eyes had

adjusted to the darkness, and I was able to appreciate how my mate’s
body was a work of art with its smooth skin and sculpted muscles. I
ran my hand slowly down his body from his chest to his abs. And he
wondered why I didn’t want to share him with the public? I’d have to
spend the whole night beating people off of him with a stick, people
who would gladly make them his and could probably give him the
emotional attention he seemed to need.

No, it was better to keep him to myself and not risk it. I might not

be able to communicate or hang out as he wanted, but I could show
him without words what he meant to me. I could master his body and
bring him bliss. It was what I did best.

“Nunca me cansaré de estar contigo,” I whispered in his ear as I

pulled my cock out of my scrubs. I will never get enough of being
with you. And that was how I felt. If it took a century for him to
understand that he was my everything, I would gladly show him as
much as possible. He nodded that he understood but didn’t reply. That
was odd. Maybe he was still upset about how I acted around his
family.

I didn’t like feeling forced into anything, and when he’d cornered

me into kissing him, everyone watching, I’d gotten angry. Sure, I
didn’t handle it right, but I didn’t think it was fair that he put me in
the position to start with. So when he showed up at my office, I
assumed he wanted to make up. Maybe I was wrong?

But we were there now, and I wanted my mate. I reached over and

pumped some of the medical lubricant onto my hand, slicking up my
cock, before pulling the side of his ass away and pushing against his

Joyee Flynn

hole. This is what we were best at. Making love was the only way I
knew how to show him that he was in my heart. Nothing else but
making sure he knew that mattered.

“You feel so good, amante,” I hissed as I pushed inside of him.
“Yeah, fuck your little closet slut,” he replied with no feeling in

his words.

I froze. Was he not into this? I reached around his body and

grabbed his hard dick, starting to stroke him. Well, he was turned on.
So what was going on in my mate’s head? Normally he liked the dirty
talk and gave as good as he got. Now it just seemed wrong.

“Slam that meat into your dirty whore. I’m your beloved mistress,

aren’t I?” Damian didn’t seem to notice I’d stopped moving and thrust
his hips back, impaling himself on my cock. What was going on here?
“I’m not good enough to kiss in public but you can pound into my ass
as soon as we’re alone. So disappointed with the mate you got that
you won’t even be seen at lunch with me, right?”

“What?” I gasped, wondering where the hell this was all coming

from. So I didn’t want to kiss him in front of his family, namely his
parents. Why was he blowing this so far out of proportion? I’d never
treated him as if he was a disappointment! I loved him!

“But then who talks to their sluts like an equal?” he grunted,

moving his hips faster. “Why would you care what your whore did all
day or want to talk to him?” I felt my erection start to deflate. This
was so wrong. “You’re not mated to me. You’re mated to my ass.
Fine, fuck it if that’s all the affection I get from you. If that’s the only
part of me you care about.”

“Is that what you think?” I whispered, my cock flaccid now as I

moved away from him.

“Great, now you don’t even want my ass?” Damian exclaimed,

turning to face me. It was then I saw the tears trailing down his
cheeks. “That was the only thing I was good for to you and now you
don’t even want me.”

“Amante,” I gasped, having no clue what the fuck he was saying.

Damian

“Don’t!” he snarled, pushing me hard in the chest and then pulling

up his jeans. “Don’t call me lover anymore! You don’t mean it,
Cyrus. We both know you don’t love me. Hell, you can’t even stand
to talk to me as if you even like me. I get that now, okay? I won’t
push you ever again to be more than your bedroom whore.”

“Damian!” I exclaimed, trying desperately to get my foothold and

talk to him as my world shattered around me. “You can’t really think
that’s how I feel about you.”

“Are you serious?” he shouted, throwing up his hands in the air

and knocking down some containers of something in the process. It
was too dim in the closet to see the labels as they tumbled to the floor.
“Even my family thinks you don’t like me. Victor wanted to know if
you ever show me any affection at all or are always such a cold
bastard.” I growled as I managed to right my clothes a second before
he stormed to the door and practically ripped it off the hinges.

“This isn’t you talking then, it’s them,” I said firmly as I grabbed

his arm, keeping him from leaving. “I knew living with them was a
mistake.”

“They’re the only thing keeping me sane.” He chuckled sadly,

shaking his head as he snatched his wrist back. “They haven’t said
anything I haven’t thought. Hell, if they knew even half of what I feel
or think, they’d kick your ass. But this isn’t about them. It’s about us.
And you’ve made it clear that you don’t care for me besides shoving
your cock in my ass and talking dirty to me. So forgive me for
thinking that’s not my dream mating.”

He walked out into the hallway, and for a shocked second I

couldn’t move. No, I wouldn’t let the conversation end this way.
Damian couldn’t leave thinking that was how I viewed him or felt
about him. He’d leave me.

“Damian, wait,” I called after him, racing in the direction he went.

I came up short when I saw he was having words with his brothers in
the lobby of the clinic.

Joyee Flynn

“I’m an adult, Victor. Stay out of it or I’ll kick your ass,” he

shouted before shoving his eldest brother hard and storming off. This
wasn’t good. As if of one mind, I had six sets of eyes turn toward me
with such a look of hate that it almost made me shiver.

“Not in the clinic,” Riley said quickly and quietly as he walked

toward me. “Let’s go out back and handle this away from other prying
eyes.”

“There’s nothing to handle,” I growled as I headed toward my

office. “This is none of their concern.”

“Well, I’ve got a few things to say as well, Cyrus. They’re not the

only ones pissed off, so you won’t listen to your brothers-in-law?
Fine. I’m pulling rank and you will listen to me because I’m your
boss.” He was staring daggers at me, arms crossed over his chest as he
blocked the door to my office.

“This isn’t work related,” I replied, narrowing my eyes at him. I

was going to push past him when suddenly his mate had me in a
headlock. I tried to struggle free, but his hold was tight.

“I’d advise against touching my mate in anger, buddy,” Micah

growled in my ear as he dragged me, with the help of Victor and one
of the other brothers that I had yet to meet, toward the back door.
“You’re in enough trouble already.”

“I would never hurt Riley,” I said, the fight leaving me as I went

with them willingly. Just what kind of monster did they think me?
Were they hearing all this from Damian?

“Right, but you’d hurt our baby brother,” Victor growled as he

shoved me roughly through the door Stefan was holding open. “Who
just happens to be your mate as well.”

“Vete a la chingada!” I snarled and shoved him. Go fuck yourself

seemed really appropriate right now. “You can accuse me of a lot of
things, but I would never, never hurt Damian.”

“Really? Then why the fuck did we just witness him rushing away

from you with tears in his eyes?” Remus yelled as he got in my face.
“They sure as hell didn’t look like happy tears.”

Damian

“We had a misunderstanding,” I mumbled, still not sure what had

happened either. “I was rushing after him to fix it. Something’s going
on with him. He’s not himself.”

“Oh, that’s for sure.” Gabriel snickered, his eyes blazing with

rage. “We were already coming to discuss that with you. We know
what the problem is.”

“What?” I asked, glad for any insight no matter how annoyed I

was that they were getting involved.

“You’ve got to be fucking shitting me!” he exclaimed, his eyes

wide. “You! You are the problem. You’re crushing our baby brother.”

“Did Damian tell you that?” I asked, wanting to know what my

mate had been blabbing about to his brothers.

“No, he won’t tell us anything,” Victor growled. “No matter

what’s going on, he’s loyal and won’t bad-mouth you to his family.
He cares, whether you don’t or not. But whatever you’re doing is
killing him inside.”

“Wait, he might not get that,” Remus said as he pulled Gabriel

and Victor back and eyed me over. “Does Damian ever joke around
with you? Pull pranks or tease you?”

“No, why would he?” This conversation was getting weirder and

weirder.

“Because that’s who he is, Cyrus.” Remus’s expression went from

one of anger to pity.

“Did you even get to know him before you stuck your cock in his

ass?” Victor sneered angrily. A few wide-eyed expressions from some
of the brothers showed me that he’d just let the cat out of the bag on
Damian’s preference to bottom. Idiot. “Damian’s a goofball. He’s
open and loving and like being around living sunshine. Do you know
anything about him outside of how he likes to be fucked?”

“Do not speak about your brother like that to me,” I growled. I

didn’t care how upset they were. Damian wouldn’t be talked about
like that in my presence. “He is my mate.”

Joyee Flynn

“Then act like it!” Victor shouted, throwing his hands up in the

air. “Damian is nothing like himself since he met you. He’s become
quiet, withdrawn, and obviously not happy. Sure, he seems sexually
sated for once, but there’s more to being a good mate than fucking
him stupid. You’ve broken his spirit.”

“Just because I don’t share my affection with him around his

family like you guys do, does not mean I don’t love my mate!” I
roared, tired of the accusations flying around. “He’s my entire world,
and I love him more than I have ever loved anything!”

“Have you told Damian that?” Riley said gently, moving closer to

me.

“He knows it,” I defended, suddenly not sure that my mate did

after the way he acted in the supply closet.

“No, no he doesn’t, Cyrus,” Riley said sadly, shaking his head.

“The man I’ve known for almost two years now is not the man
Damian’s been. That man is barely holding on to a thread, and if
something doesn’t change soon, you are going to lose him. And you’ll
have no one to blame but yourself.”

“How can you say you love him?” Micah asked, shaking his head.

“You don’t show it. I can’t be around Riley and not touch him. It
doesn’t have to be sexual or inappropriate when we’re around other
people, just something that makes me feel as close to my mate as
possible.”

“That’s not who I am,” I answered, my anger deflated and

replaced with worry. Would Damian really leave me? “You know
nothing about me.”

“That’s our point,” the man I didn’t know, Virgil, I was guessing,

said. “You don’t know who Damian is and he seems to know just as
little about you. You guys are like strangers from what I hear, and
when I’ve talked to him on the phone, I can tell he’s not happy. So
pull your head out of your ass, get over whatever issues you clearly
have, and be a real mate to our brother. Or our next talk won’t be so
friendly.”

Damian

“We will take him away from you and find someone who will

love him the way he deserves, Cyrus,” Victor said coldly. “Make no
mistake about that.”

“That’s not for you to decide,” I growled, my fangs and claws

coming out at the threat. They, in turn, did the same. “I don’t care if I
have to take all of you on, but you are not taking my mate from me!”

“No, you’re doing that all on your own,” Riley said miserably.

“Damian was crushed when he ran out of here. I don’t know what you
did or what’s going on, but that is not a man who wants to stay in the
relationship he’s in, Cyrus. He’s miserable and you’ve only been
together less than three weeks. This should be the easy,
honeymooning part of mating. Instead he looks ready to run for the
hills.”

Riley’s words sank in like a punch to the stomach. Suddenly I felt

sick. “I’ve been loving him the only way I know how.”

“Then figure out another way because it’s not working,” Micah

said firmly, wrapping an arm around Riley’s shoulders and turning to
leave. One by one they gave me a last disgusted look and left.

And I finally saw their intervention as what it was… A last ditch

effort to help me. Were things so bad that I needed all six brothers and
my boss threatening to kick my ass for me to see what was going on?
Hell, I still didn’t understand what I’d done wrong. I just knew that all
of them couldn’t have agreed that Damian wasn’t happy if it wasn’t
true.

Just then, my phone beeped. I pulled it out of my pocket, hopeful

that things could get better when I saw it was a text from my mate…
Until I read it.

Going out dancing tonight since you won’t be seen in public with

me and I’m tired of sitting at home doing nothing more than fucking.
I’ll see you when I get home, tomorrow maybe.

My mate thought I’d let him be away from me overnight? Oh hell

no. I growled and texted him back, my fingers flying across the touch
screen.

Joyee Flynn

Wait for me to come home from work. We obviously need to

discuss what happened today. Do not stay out all night, Damian.

I shook my head, pissed off, mostly at myself, that the situation I

didn’t even know was going on had spiraled so far out of control. I
headed back to my office, unsure of what I would say to him when I
did get home. I didn’t know how to talk about my feelings. What was
I going to do? My phone beeped again, and I glanced down at it.

We’re not in the bedroom. You’re not the boss of me, nor my

parent. My ass will be available for your morning fucking. That’s all
you care about anyways.

Fuck! It beeped again.
And I tried talking to you, but you didn’t care about that. I’m

going where people might actually want to talk to me. I can’t talk to
my family about this, and I need simple human interaction. I’ll see
you later tonight or tomorrow.

This was sooo not good. Was he going to a club to pick up another

man? Would he really do that to me? Had our mating been that bad? I
was confused, hurt, pissed, and several other emotions I wasn’t used
to feeling. Crushed was a good way to state the main thing I was
feeling.

Please don’t do this, Damian. I’m leaving work now and we can

just talk, okay? If you want to dance, I’ll go with you.

I raced to my office and grabbed my things. Luckily everything

was already packed in my briefcase, so all I had to grab was that and
my jacket, which only took a few seconds. I shouted to Riley that I
had to leave on my way out. By the time I got to my car, I still didn’t
have a response from Damian.

Amante, don’t leave me, I thought as I started the car and threw it

into gear. I peeled out of the parking lot, breaking every speed limit to
get home. I had to catch him before he left or I didn’t know what he’d
do or if our mating would survive it. And Riley was right. I had no
one to blame but myself.

Fuck.

Damian

Chapter 5

Cyrus

Luck hadn’t been on my side. It seemed Damian had already been

home and left again by the time he’d texted me. According to his very
pissed-off madre, he’d packed a bag and wouldn’t tell her where he
was going.

Fuck!
His brothers and Riley were completely unhelpful, stating I’d dug

my own bed and now it was time to lie in it. I sucked it up and went to
the one brother I least wanted to ask for help but who I knew would
have the answers.

“Where would he go if he wanted to dance and have fun talking to

people?” I asked Victor as I found him in the garage, tinkering with
his car. He was underneath it when I came out. He must have heard
my footsteps because he rolled out and sat up. I noticed he had a bit of
grease smudged on his forehead.

“Why should I tell you?” he shot back, not even looking up at me,

instead rolling the tool in his hand between his fingers. “It’s your fault
this is happening.”

“Yes!” I shouted, throwing my hands up in the air. “Yes, it’s all

my fault. But I had no clue about any of this until he blew up at me
today and then ran away. He’s not handling this any better either. It’s
been not even three weeks. Nothing is perfect in that time. But if he
goes and is with another man tonight, then he will never forgive
himself and our mating will be destroyed.”

Joyee Flynn

“Maybe that’s for the best then,” Victor said evenly as he turned

to face me. “I’m surprised you care. Would you really go chase him
down?”

“I’m here asking for your help when I know you want nothing

more than to pound my face in, and I don’t like you any more than
that either.” I took a couple of deep breaths to calm down. “Help me
find him so I can fix this before he makes a mistake he would regret,
whether I deserve it or not.”

“He’s starting to grow on me,” Victor’s mate, Malachi, said from

inside the car. I hadn’t even seen him there. “But if Victor tells you,
then Patrick, Riley, Noah, and I are going to make you go through
how to be a loving mate training. Deal?”

“Sí, fine, yes, I obviously need it,” I agreed immediately,

desperate to find my mate before I lost him for good. I put the
desperation I was feeling into my expression as I turned to Victor.
“Please? I love him. Please help me find him before it’s too late.”

“Richmond,” Victor said with a sigh after eyeing me over for a

moment. “There’s a club in Richmond I know he likes to go dancing
at when he needs to blow off steam.”

“Thank you,” I replied with a grateful nod before taking off. He’d

given me the name of the club and directions before I left. I hopped
back in my car and raced after my mate. I had no clue what I was
going to do when I found him, but I just knew I had to find him. My
insides twisted uncomfortably.

Paddling his ass for the rest of the night for running from me and

scaring me was a distinct possibility. But I wasn’t sure he’d even let
me get close enough to him to do that. It was already well after
dinnertime before I got on the road, cursing that Damian had such a
head start on me. For all I knew, he could already be in the arms of
another man and it was still a few hours’ drive to Richmond.

The entire time I fought with my own mind, desperately trying to

keep any images out of my head that involved my mate with someone
else. By the time I got to Richmond and found the club, I was ready to

Damian

pull out my hair in desperation. I quickly parked and changed out of
my scrubs and into the clothes I had grabbed before speaking with
Victor.

I was lucky anything even matched. I glanced down at my body

quickly, taking in my sleek, black leather pants and red leather tank.
Both fit like a second skin, but were surprisingly easy to move around
in, and left virtually nothing to the imagination.

After I was ready, I got out of the car, locked it with the fob, and

took a few deep, calming breaths. I couldn’t just go running in there
like a madman or I’d push Damian even further away.

I walked right past the line and by the bouncer, using my gift of

being able to hide myself from people’s minds. Normally I didn’t use
it so blatantly, but desperate times and all that. When I got inside, I
headed to the bar, scanning the people there. Nothing. Leaning up
against the edge of it, I ordered a beer and checked out the crowd,
trying not to jump out of my skin and race around shouting my mate’s
name.

There. In the middle of the dance floor was Damian. My jaw

dropped open in shock. Holy shit,  could my mate dance. He was
bobbing and moving to the music, sweat glistening on the skin of his
arms and the slice of his chest made visible by his V-neck,  tight  T-
shirt. It was also in his hair, making his curls slightly damp, and I
longed to run my fingers through it.

I turned for a moment to accept my drink and pay the bartender

before focusing back on my mate. For someone so tall, my mate
moved with exceptional fluidity. I caught the song playing and rolled
my eyes that it was the perfect one-night-stand, hookup song on top of
everything else.

Granted, I liked Pitbull and Ne-Yo’s “Give Me Everything,” but I

didn’t need the song playing to give the men around my mate any
more ideas. Granted, it wasn’t strictly a gay club, so not everyone
would be trying to jump him, but it was mostly gays there so at least

Joyee Flynn

half. And the way some of the women were eyeing up my mate, I
knew they’d be all over him as well if given half the chance.

Just then, the man dancing closest to Damian leaned over and said

something. My mate threw back his head and laughed, smiling
widely, eyes shining. And it hit me like a ton of bricks. I’d never seen
him do that before. Victor was right. He was like being around living
sunshine. It was amazing and painful to watch all at the same time.
Had I really squashed that?

No more. I would give him whatever he needed, no matter if I

didn’t understand it, it made me uncomfortable, or it wasn’t what I
was used to. I loved Damian. I would be whomever and whatever he
needed to keep him in my life.

I pounded the rest of the beer down and made my way through the

crowd, dodging the flailing limbs of people dancing around me. When
I was almost to him, I saw him glance at me and felt something like a
sharp knife slice through me as the jubilant look on his face fell to a
look of despair. It almost had me turning and running for the door,
dying inside that I was too late. No, I couldn’t give up. He was mine.

Now I simply had to show him that I was worthy of him. Fuck if I

knew how.

* * * *

Damian

I swore I had seen Cyrus. I looked across the dance floor and there

he had been. My face fell because I knew my fun was over, but when
I glanced back up after cursing and staring down at my shoes, he was
gone. Maybe my mind was playing tricks on me? I did feel guilty for
running off after what happened, but I just needed some air, some
space, and to blow off some steam before I exploded.

Shrugging my shoulders when I couldn’t find him again, thinking

I’d just imagined it, I went back to dancing with my new friend

Damian

Emmett. We were a lot alike even if he was human and the cutest
little twink in the world. Granted, I didn’t want him for more than a
friend and a dance partner, but I could appreciate how gorgeous he
was with his longish blond locks, enchanting olive-green eyes, and
slender, lithe body.

We’d got to talking at the bar before the club picked up, both

seeming intent on getting piss drunk and letting our worries go for
one night. The more he talked, the more I saw myself in him, the me I
was before I met Cyrus and he showed me what I wanted in bed
wasn’t wrong. It made me think this little human might be mated to a
vampire because according to him, biting was his thing. But as it
happened with me, people hadn’t understood him and called him sick.

So for one night, he wasn’t on the prowl and knew I wasn’t either.

We just wanted to have fun and talk to each other, complete strangers
basically, about all of our problems without being judged or anyone,
like family, stepping in to try and fix everything.

I was jarred out of my thoughts when a large man moved in from

behind and placed his hands on my hips, molding his body to mine.
And had an impressive erection pressing against my lower back.

“Sorry, I’m taken,” I yelled over my shoulder. “I’m just out to

dance and drink. Not looking for more.”

“Good to know, amante,” Cyrus purred in my ear. I had seen him!
“I’m not going back yet,” I said defiantly as I turned around to

face him.

“I’m not asking you to. I said I would go dancing with you if you

waited for me,” he replied with a hurt expression. He smoothed a curl
of my hair away from my face and moved his hand to cup my cheek.
“You ran from me.”

“I needed to get out, to think. I wasn’t going to do anything bad,

or don’t you trust me either now, too?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at
him. I lifted my hand slightly with the intention of moving his hand
off my cheek, but then I realized something weird. “You’re touching
me in public.”

Joyee Flynn

“Sí.”
“Only because we don’t know anyone around us, right?” My

moment of shock wore off when I realized why that was.

“That doesn’t make it any easier for me that these people are

strangers, Damian,” he answered hesitantly, but still moved his hand
further up my cheek and around my head. “But I will figure out a way
to get past it if that’s what you need.”

“No,” I whispered and pushed him away. I was glad he wanted to

try, but this wasn’t something I could force him into doing for me. “I
don’t want you to touch me or kiss me in public only because it’s
what I want. That’s not the point or any fun.”

“I am trying here, amante. I do not want the man I love to leave

me, but you have to show me how to be what you need.” His voice
was pleading.

“That’s funny,” I barked out, laughing cruelly. “Yeah, you love

me. Right. Tell me another one.” I couldn’t believe he was trying to
sell me this bullshit. But then I saw him wince, his face falling even
further into despair. “Shit. You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“I would never lie about something like that. I thought you knew I

loved you until what happened today,” he admitted, his face heating
up with embarrassment.

“You can’t love me.” I balked, too shocked to control my mouth.

“You don’t even know me. You know how to fuck me, that’s it. How
can you say you love me when I don’t love you?”

Oh shit. That was mean, and I sooo didn’t mean it to come out

like that. Cyrus looked as if I’d just kicked him in the sac, ran over his
cat, and told him Santa Claus wasn’t real all at once.

“I know my heart,” he whispered, shaking his head sadly as he let

me go. “The moment you pulled that box out from under the bed, so
scared and vulnerable, I knew I already loved you. I wanted to show
you what real love and pleasure was and take away all of your pain
and worries. But I can see now that I have shown you nothing.”

Damian

“I didn’t say that,” I said gently before turning to Emmett, who

had taken a few steps back as if trying to slink away unnoticed into
the crowd. I reached over and placed my hand in his. “Don’t leave
yet. I still need to get your number.”

“Okay, call me if you need my help,” he replied, eyeing over

Cyrus. “I’m scrappier in a fight than I look.”

“I’ll bet you are.” I laughed, leaning over to kiss his cheek before

pulling Cyrus into a quieter corner.

“You kissed another man in my presence and say you would never

cheat?” His eyes flared with anger and something else. Something
that looked like possessiveness. “You are mine!”

Before I could even answer, I was pinned against the wall with his

mouth on mine, his lips urging me to surrender. He overtook all my
senses with his kiss, claiming me for anyone to see. But that didn’t
seem to be enough for him. Cyrus moved his hands under my ass and
lifted me up, wrapping my legs around his hips and invading what
little space I had left.

When air became necessary, he pulled his mouth off of mine,

gasping for air.

“People can see,” I whispered, wanting him to not regret any of

this.

“I don’t care,” he growled, and then his eyebrows shot up to his

forehead. “I don’t care.” A feral smile spread over his face. “For the
first time, I don’t care who sees or knows how I feel. Fuck. I want
them to all know who you belong to.”

I probably should have kept my mouth shut, but the question still

came out in a suspicious tone. “What changed?”

“I thought I’d lost you, and suddenly, the way I’d been raised, the

things I’d been taught, didn’t seem to matter anymore.” I realized I
really didn’t know shit about my mate. What the hell was he talking
about?

“I don’t understand,” I whispered, horny but yet oh so confused.

Joyee Flynn

“You will if you give me another chance,” he said gently, rubbing

his fingers over my jaw. “I will tell you everything, Damian. We will
talk. I thought things were going well and I would open up when I
was ready, but I realized on the way here some things we’re just never
ready for. I just have to do it and then it will get easier.”

“Okay then,” I replied with a smile. I still had no clue what he was

talking about, but I did understand that something major just
happened for my mate. And I was a part of it. “Emmett, that man,
nothing happened. He’s having a really rough time, like when we met,
and I just want to help him, let him know he’s not alone. That’s all, I
swear it.”

“I believe you, amante. Let’s go talk with your new friend. We

will help him if we can. And then if you’ll allow it, I’d like to go
home and spend some time with my mate getting to know him.”

“I’d like that.” I almost swooned in his arms. Who knew running

away would have such a great outcome? Maybe those goofy romance
movies knew what they were talking about after all? It seemed the
moment Cyrus thought he might lose me, he snapped out of his world
and saw what else was around him. Namely, me. “And I am falling
for you, mi alma. I just don’t think I can be in love with someone I
barely know.”

“Well, I do love you, and I’m sorry I’ve not shown you that.” He

nodded as if he understood my position. He looked a little sad still but
didn’t try to push me into admitting something I wasn’t ready to say. I
fell just a little harder for him right then.

“I know there’s no one else in the world I’d rather be with and no

one’s ever made me feel as you do,” I admitted, wanting to give him
something to hold on to while we worked things out.

“That is more than enough for now and more than I deserve after

being such an ass.” He lowered me to my feet, giving me another
quick kiss before leading me back to the dance floor…his hand in
mine. In public! I was ready to be a total dork and start skipping
alongside of him I was so happy.

Damian

But can someone six four even skip?
“Emmett, I want you to meet my husband, Cyrus,” I said loudly

when we found him sitting at the bar. Emmett turned on the stool to
look over at us as we came up behind him.

“It is a pleasure.” Cyrus raised Emmett’s hand to his lips, and I

swear the little guy was going to pass out at the gesture. I didn’t get
the feeling too many people were ever nice to him. “Can we go
somewhere quieter and talk?”

“I–I can’t leave,” Emmett said nervously, his glance darting to the

corner. “My pimp has someone for me to meet up with in a bit. It’s
supposed to be my night off, but he just told me when he walked in
here.”

“Pimp?” I gasped, my eyes going wide with shock. The bartender

came over to us and I signaled for him to get me what Emmett was
having.

“I thought you weren’t the type to judge,” he sneered and started

to get up off the stool to move away from us.

“Emmett, wait,” I said quickly, grabbing his arm. “I wasn’t

judging. I’m just shocked, okay? You seem so innocent and young. I
just wasn’t ready to hear you had a pimp.”

“We do what we have to.” He shrugged, looking older and sadder

suddenly before plastering on a fake smile. “Besides, I like sex, right?
If I can make a living off of it, all the better for me.” His tone carried
a false enthusiasm.

“Is your pimp going to get mad if we keep talking to you and

taking up your time?” I didn’t know how pimps really were, but in the
movies, they were monsters, and the last thing I wanted was to get
Emmett in trouble.

“Yeah, he’s already glaring,” he sighed, shaking his head.
“I’m going to give you my number and where I work,” I said and

nodded to Cyrus, who was already off to find some paper and a pen.
“If you ever need anything, you let me know, okay? And we still need

Joyee Flynn

to talk about the biting. Nothing’s wrong with you, Emmett. I really
do want us to be friends.”

“I’d like that, too. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a friend

who wasn’t intent on just getting me bent over something.” He looked
so lost admitting that, but yet hopeful as his eyes shined up at me. I
wondered if he’d ever had a real friend.

“I’m serious on my offer,” I whispered quietly in his ear when I

leaned over to grab the drink I had signaled the bartender to give me
earlier. Cyrus slipped me some paper, and I carefully passed it on to
Emmett, knowing we were being watched. “You want to get out of
this life and away from the pimp, I can protect you. My family is very
connected. You’re not trapped if you don’t want to be.”

“I’ll think about it, I swear,” he replied, kissing me on the cheek

before moving away. I gave him a smile and nodded before letting
Cyrus lead me out of the club.

“It seems wrong to leave him when I know what’s really going on

now,” I said with a sigh once we were in the parking lot. Outside it
was cold and dark, the only light coming from the one above the
entrance to the club. The icy air filled my lungs as I took a deep
breath and rubbed my hands up and down my bare arms in an attempt
to warm myself up again.

“Give him time, amante. You were a stranger at the beginning of

the night, and he cannot just jump into going with you because you
say so. Once he knows you, he will take you up on your offer,” Cyrus
replied gently, moving us so both his arms were wrapped around me.
I leaned gratefully into his warm body. “You have such a kind, big
heart. I’m sorry I did not see that until now.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” I mumbled, blushing furiously.
“I would,” he said, glancing around quickly. We were hidden

from the club now, having stopped when we got to my SUV. My mate
leaned me up against the door, dropped to his knees, and undid my
fly.

Damian

“Cyrus, holding my hand in public is fine. You don’t have to blow

me when people could see us,” I moaned as he pulled out my cock.

“I want to. I think you have awakened something in me, Damian.

And all I can think about is sucking you off and worshiping your body
after you’ve agreed to give me another chance.”

Right, because I was going to refuse an offer like that?
“Okay,” I squeaked as he stroked me. He smiled, letting me see

his fangs had come out before he swallowed my eight and a half
inches in one swoop. We’d worked out a system already, not that I’d
gotten a lot of blow jobs from him. If he twisted my sac and squeezed
my thigh, it was the same as giving me permission to come. A very
fun way to communicate in my opinion.

He sucked me harder, and after the way I was primed from the

kiss in the club, I was two seconds from exploding. When his fangs
grazed my dick, my eyes practically rolled back in my head.

“Bite me,” I whimpered.
He smiled around my cock, giving me the sign as he sank his teeth

into my flesh. I shoved my fist in my mouth as I screamed out and
shot down his throat. My hips involuntarily jerked, which wasn’t
smart since his fangs were still in me, but luckily he moved with me
in time. That would have hurt.

“Oh god. Oh fuck, Cyrus,” I mumbled around my hand, riding the

waves of pleasure. When I was done, my mate licked the bite closed
and pulled off of me with a naughty slurp. My knees gave out and he
caught me just before I crumbled to the ground. He removed my fist
from my mouth and smiled at me wickedly.

“I love how responsive you are, amante,” he whispered in my ear,

tucking some stray curls behind my ear.

“Glad to be of service.” I snickered. I glanced around and saw his

car, groaning. “Oh man, now I’ve got to drive back home alone when
all I want to do is take a catnap.”

“In a way, I am glad we drove separately,” he admitted with a

shrug. “I thought we might talk on the phone while we made our way

Joyee Flynn

home. It might be easier for what I have to tell you if I’m not face-to-
face in the car with you.”

“You don’t have to make yourself say anything that’s

uncomfortable, mi alma,” I said gently, realizing there was a deeper
pain in my mate that I’d had no idea about. Granted, he never told me,
but now that I knew it was there, I didn’t want to push him.

“No, it is time,” he sighed and stood, helping me get to my feet.

“Are you okay to drive?”

“Yeah.” I chuckled, shaking off the last of my orgasmic glow.

“I’m starving though. Can we hit a drive-thru on the way?”

“Anything for you,” he said softly, cupping my cheek and rubbing

his thumb softly across my cheekbone. “You melted the ice around
my heart that I didn’t even know was there and let in the sunshine I so
desperately needed.”

“That’s beautiful,” I purred, rubbing my face into his hand. “But I

hope you know I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You’re the sunshine.” Cyrus gave me a quick, chaste kiss before

opening the door and helping me get into the SUV. “I’ll be right
behind you.”

“Okay,” I mumbled after he closed the door and walked away. I’ll

admit it, I wasn’t always the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I was a
fairly intelligent guy. I’d spent so much time tonight confused it hurt
my head. Was he calling me sunshine now? Um, I no likie that pet
name.

Damian

Chapter 6

Cyrus

I knew my hot mate was totally confused, and it was an adorable

look on him. But hopefully after we talked he’d understand more. I
smiled as my phone rang and I saw it was him.

“Hello, amante,” I said seductively as I pulled out of my parking

spot and followed him out of the club’s lot.

“Are you giving me sunshine as a pet name now? Because I have

to say I’m so not cool with that. Sunshine is for—”

“No, Damian.” I snickered, shaking my head. “Your brothers said

being around you was like having live sunshine around when they
came to talk to me. And I now understand and agree with them.”

“Nooo,” he groaned deeply into the phone. “They didn’t! I’m so

punching all of them.”

“Yes, they did. And personally I plan on thanking them because

they were a big help.” I told him everything that had gone down with
them dragging me outside and cornering me. Then about how I asked
them all to help in finding him.

“Fine, they helped,” Damian grumbled halfheartedly. “But I’m

still punching them, otherwise they’ll keep sticking their noses into
our mating.”

“Fair enough.” I chuckled as we pulled into a chain restaurant

fast-food place. “Really? You eat this shit?”

“Hey, grease, alcohol, and dancing are fit for kings,” he playfully

retorted with a pouty tone. “I like the fries.”

Joyee Flynn

“As you wish.” I liked this side of my mate. His brothers were

right. Damian seemed to fit with the teasing persona he’d had tonight.
Now if I could just keep him happy and like this. But not at the
moment. We had much to discuss.

“And I’m getting a milkshake. Deal with it. I’m sure you can find

a way for me to work off the calories.”

“A very dangerous game you’re playing, Damian,” I growled into

the phone after we both got our orders and were back on the road.
“But one we must put on hold for now.” I sighed, wanting to keep this
fun between us going but really not sure I could talk to him face-to-
face about such serious topics.

“Okay, lay it on me,” he said around a mouthful of food. Him not

being able to comment as often because he was eating the massive
amounts of burgers he’d ordered might be helpful as well.

Well, fuck, when he said it like that I wasn’t sure where to start.
“Well, you know how old I am and times were very different then.

I come from what was considered to be one of the strongest, most
conservative covens in Spain.”

“Conservative as in your parents wouldn’t have been happy you

were mated to a man?” he asked quietly, his mouth no longer full of
food, realizing this was indeed serious.

“No, no, amante, they would not have been pleased. They would

have tried to prevent it at all costs. To be fair, a lot has changed in
twelve hundred years, and if they were alive, maybe their opinion
would have as well. I do not know. But mi madre caught me kissing a
stableboy when I was fifteen and tanned my hide, shouting dios
castiga a los malos y antinaturales.”

“I have no clue on that one, but it doesn’t sound good.”
“No. It means god punishes the wicked and unnatural,” I replied

softly, blinking rapidly as my eyes started to burn. I’d not revisited
these memories ever, being too painful for me to handle. Maybe that
had been the start to my coldheartedness and cutting myself off from
the world? “That night, either the extreme stress brought it out or it

Damian

was just time, and I started my transition. When I was done, both my
parents could barely look at me and shipped me off to the Central
European High Council for training.

“I remember thinking, what was the big deal? It was just a kiss.

I’d seen other boys do it in secret. I didn’t understand how anything
showing affection could ever be bad whether it be with another male
or not. But that wasn’t the way of my family. I can’t ever remember
seeing my parents kiss or embrace. We lived in hard times and were
taught that being affectionate was a sign of weakness that should
never be done around others.”

“That explains so much,” Damian drawled, his voice still quiet,

before clearing his throat. “One of my first memories is of my father
chasing around my mother with frosting on his lips for whatever
reason and trying to plant a kiss on her. He tackled her to the couch,
and I remember thinking that no two people in the world loved each
other more than they did as they kissed.”

“I could see that about your madre and padre. They are very much

still in love.”

I realized something then. It always struck me as childish and

inappropriate the way Damian’s brothers acted with their mates,
always touching and kissing. But now that I thought of it, Elena sat in
Desmond’s lap sometimes and they always kissed each other hello.
I’d been such an idiot.

“Ay dios mío,” I groaned, understanding now how everyone could

think I was so cold.

“Care to share with the class?” my mate asked with a chuckle. I

filled him in on my revelation, bracing for his response. I should
never have thought he’d give me anything but a concerned reply.
“You really haven’t been around too many mated couples, have you?”

“No,” I whispered, realizing it was time for the bad part of the

story. “Two weeks into my training I was called to one of the
councilmen’s office. He informed me that demons had wiped out my
entire coven and family. There was no making up with my parents

Joyee Flynn

now or hoping that one day they would understand that I preferred
men. Nothing. All my friends, my cousins, aunts, uncles, all of them
were just gone. And then I was sent right back to training.”

“Jesus,” he hissed, drawing in a sharp breath. “Yeah, that

wouldn’t traumatize any fifteen-year-old. I wish I was right next to
you so I could give you a hug and comfort you.”

“For once in my life, I would have allowed it,” I admitted, feeling

my cheeks heat up. “Do you see now why I act the way I do? It was
ingrained in me to be this way, and I didn’t even realize anything was
wrong with it or I had been traumatized until your outburst.”

“That’s not true, Cyrus,” he said quietly. “You knew something

was wrong and I wasn’t happy. I’ve tried to talk to you about it and
you wouldn’t. I understand what you’re saying, but I’ve given you
signs before I freaked out on you.”

I winced. He was right about that. “Yes, but I didn’t think it was

such a big deal, us simply getting used to how the other one acts. I
saw it as your adjustment phase to understanding I wasn’t a big talker
like your family was. But I did show you my love in other ways.”

“Really? And I just missed the flowers and card?” he bit out,

sounding as if I was just added to the list of people he was going to
punch.

And that annoyed me. “You act like I only fucked you and talked

dirty to you. But I remember there being lots of foreplay and hours of
nothing but kissing, Damian. I remember kissing and licking every
inch of your body twice. Then I took you slowly, biting you as you
liked, and not coming until you climaxed twice. After which I drew
you a bath and washed your body, showing how much I treasured
you. And I might not be big into talking, but when you tell me things,
do I ever act bored?”

“No,” he whispered.
“No, I love to listen to you. I never fall asleep right after sex or

don’t take care of my mate. Hell, you have and I tend to you. But
every night I hold you in my arms, thanking god for you while you

Damian

sleep or talk until you tire out. That is not how one treats a whore or
mistress, Damian. You have not been fair in your assessment.”

“But the only time you show me that side of you or any love is

when I’m naked. How could I think I meant more to you than just
what we do in the bedroom? Sure, you were pampering me before and
after sex because you knew you wouldn’t get any more sex if you
didn’t. That’s what it seemed like to me.” He sniffled and my heart
broke.

“Pull over,” I ordered.
“No, let’s just get home—”
“Pull over now,” I growled, smiling when I heard him sigh and

saw he had turned on his blinker. We pulled over on the side of the
highway and immediately I got out of the car. I yanked his door open,
my heart hurting when I saw tiny droplets of tears glistening on his
cheeks.

“What?” he asked, wiping them away angrily. “I’m not crying.”
“Of course you’re not,” I agreed, letting him feel that he was not

weak. But suddenly, it wasn’t weak to me. Damian was able to show
his feelings in ways I couldn’t, and to me that took a strong man,
stronger than I was. I pulled him from his SUV and wrapped my arms
around him. “I never meant to make you feel that way, amante. I was
trying to show you what a treasure you were to me.”

“I get that now and I’m glad,” he sighed against my shoulder,

nuzzling my neck. “But do you understand how it seemed to me?
How I could think that’s how you felt?”

“Yes, and that is why I asked you to pull over.”
“More like ordered me,” he grumbled, staring at the steering

wheel fixedly.

“Yes, but I am your mate and I know what’s best for you. I also

knew that you needed my touch at the moment so you would not feel
so alone. And I found myself wanting to comfort you.”

“For someone who’s supposedly so closed off and cold when it

comes to feelings, you seem to be doing a good job right now.”

Joyee Flynn

“I think you awoke something in me tonight. Flipped some switch

inside of me I didn’t know was there. When I saw you dancing,
laughing, I realized I’d not had a chance to see that yet, and I wanted
more of that from you and in my life. I can’t say I will change my
ways overnight or even have a clue what is the right thing to do at
times. But I have faith you will guide me and show me the way.”

“I’ll do my best,” he sighed, reaching out and hugging me tightly.

I breathed in the scent of my mate deeply. That was all either of us
could do.

* * * *

Damian

We got home sometime after midnight, and I was shocked to see

the whole family in the kitchen. They had been talking amongst
themselves, all having cups of coffee sitting in front of them on the
polished, wooden table. Some of them had changed into their
pajamas, but for the most part, everyone was wearing clothes that they
would normally have on during the day. When we came in, they
immediately became quiet and turned their heads in our direction. I
swallowed nervously. My parents didn’t look happy, and I found
myself immediately blurting out, “I’m sorry.”

“Sit,” my father ordered with a nod as he pointed to the two empty

chairs at the end of the table. I went to do as he said, but Cyrus held
my hand, the firmness of his grip preventing me from moving.

“With all due respect, Padre Marius, Damian has had a trying day

and I think it best he get some rest.”

My father raised an eyebrow, otherwise schooling his features and

keeping his face blank, something he only did when he was really
pissed and trying to keep his temper under control. This was not good,
and I didn’t want my mate getting in a verbal match with my father
after the revelation he’d had.

Damian

“This won’t take long. He’s your mate, but he’s still my son, and I

wouldn’t do anything to harm his health, but this needs to be
discussed now. We assembled the whole family. So sit down and
listen.”

I felt Cyrus go stiff and rubbed his arm to reassure him that it was

going to be okay before he could reply. “Don’t. I know you’re not
used to being around a family or having parents boss you around, but
they do it out of love, okay? We don’t keep things inside in this
family.”

“I’ve noticed.” He snickered, calming right back down. “Okay,

amante. I will behave.”

“That’s part of what we wanted to talk to you about,” my mother

said gently as we sat.

“Yes, we’ll get to apologizing to Cyrus, but first.” My father

narrowed his eyes at me. “You’re in trouble. Three weeks ago you
were out at a club, drugged, tortured, and went through hell. We come
home and no one knows where you are, your mate is frantic, and your
phone was turned off.”

“Oh shit,” I whispered, feeling like a total jackass.
“Yeah, oh shit is right. Damian, you’re an adult so it’s not like

you have to ask permission to go out, but in light of what the fuck
happened recently, don’t you think you should have been more
considerate?” The tone of his voice was very stern.

“Yes, Father, and I’m sorry,” I answered, nodding in agreement.

“I wasn’t thinking and I never meant to make anyone in the family
worry. I promise to pull my head out of my ass next time.”

“It was my fault,” Cyrus said as he pulled me onto his lap. I let out

a yelp of shock but didn’t fight him. Granted, I was worried we might
break the chair, but since this was such a big step for my mate, I
thought it was worth the risk. “I have not been the mate I should be
and Damian was upset, needing to get out of the house and think.”

“While I appreciate you saying that, and even understand the

circumstances, that doesn’t change the fact that Damian acted poorly

Joyee Flynn

in the way he handled it.” My father glanced at my mother, brushing
some hair out of her face before taking her hand as if silently asking if
she had anything to add. As I looked at my mother, I noticed she was
pale and tired, and I felt a pang of guilt.

“You almost died on us. We’re not trying to be jerks but we were

all worried,” she said quietly. “Don’t do that to us again.”

“I won’t. I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking,” I whispered, feeling

like horseshit for even giving them a moment’s worry. “I’ll attach
some GPS to my butt and a two-way radio. I won’t turn off my phone
or run off again.”

“GPS to your butt, huh?” she asked, trying to fight the smile that

was pulling at the side of her mouth.

“Sure. They’ll hook me right up at RadioShack. I can get one of

those cool beacons that beep and flash like you see in the movies.”

“Smart-ass,” my father and Victor said as one, and a few people

chuckled. “I should ground you to your room.”

“Yeah, that’s not much of a punishment now that I’m mated,

Father,” I replied with a snicker. Cyrus buried his face in my neck,
shaking as his laughter rumbled through his chest. I patted his head,
realizing I could be making him uncomfortable. “We play a lot of
chess.”

Then my mate just threw back his head and roared in laughter,

holding me tightly to him.

“Nice to know you’re back,” Victor said, giving me a wide smile.

“We’ve missed you.”

“I was here. Just trying to figure a few things out and adjust to

being mated,” I replied, not wanting to betray what Cyrus had told
me.

“And that’s where we come to the apologies,” my mother said

when my mate calmed down. “Something clicked with me the other
day when your file came across my desk.” She glanced down at her
hands, fidgeting, and I knew she was lying. Interesting. Now the
question was if she looked up my mate or already knew what was in

Damian

his file. “Desmond and I were alive when your coven was
slaughtered. It’s the reason certain security procedures were put into
place.”

“How old were you when it happened?” my father asked, going

back to his normal calm, loving demeanor. I knew he’d only gotten
pissed because I’d worried the family. He wasn’t an unreasonable
man.

“Fifteen,” Cyrus answered, clearing his throat. “I was away at

training. It was right after I went through my transition.”

“I’m sorry for your loss and your tragedy,” Victor said gently, his

normally harsh look softening. “We were worried about Damian. He’s
important to this family and we love him. I hope you will understand
that and forgive us. We never thought as to why you might have such
difficulty being around us and showing Damian you care.”

“Are you asking to be forgiven?” Cyrus asked as he glanced

around the table. I saw all my brothers nod, but not looking fully
repentant. “Because I was planning on thanking you in the morning
for stepping in. I’m not a fan of the way you did it, but you helped me
understand my mate at a time I needed it. I am glad you acknowledge
that it’s not easy being the outsider in such a tight-knit family.”

“Thank Patrick for that,” Stefan said, shaking his head. “He read

us all the riot act about not making things easier for you. He knows
something about how hard it is to adapt to having a family all of a
sudden.”

“I just said that fate wouldn’t have mated Damian with a dickhead

so there had to be something more going on than we knew.” My little
brother-in-law shrugged his shoulders and gave me a wink. Goofball.

“Yes, well, Damian and I have talked and are working through our

issues.” He paused and I glanced at him to see he was sharing a look
with Victor. “You were right. He is like live sunshine. I won’t forget
that or shield that part of him anymore.”

“Seriously? We’re so not going to keep referring to me as

sunshine,” I growled while shaking my head vehemently, partially

Joyee Flynn

because I was embarrassed that they thought so highly of me. Well, I
was pretty sure it was a compliment.

“You saw him dance.” Victor snickered, not making it a question.
“Yes, he moves beautifully for one so big and muscular,” my mate

replied, and I felt him get hard under my ass. I ignored it and stared
daggers at my mother.

“Don’t you dare,” I growled when she smiled widely.
“What? What are you hiding from your mate?” Cyrus asked

firmly.

“Family secret.” Micah snickered, shaking his head and smirking.
“Really? You told Micah?” I groaned. Now there was no way

everyone wouldn’t find out.

“I saw you dancing around in your tutu when you were young,” he

said, trying his best to hold in his laughter.

“Ass. Hole.” Because everyone wouldn’t know now what we’d

been talking about. “It’s not my fault Mother never got a daughter.”

“That’s not why I hired a ballet tutor,” she defended, crossing her

arms over her chest. “It wasn’t about you being girly or only having
boys. You were just so graceful as a child and you danced around all
the time. I thought you’d like it and be good at it.”

“How long did he take lessons?” Cyrus asked. The jerk had a wide

smile on his face as well. “And do male dancers wear tutus?”

“No, he wanted one.” She giggled, bringing her manicured hand

up to cover her mouth. I groaned and rolled my eyes. “Granted, he
wanted a blue one because he said boys wore blue, but it was still a
tutu. He started when he was five and was done with it at seven or
eight. I think he realized someone would find out if he did it much
longer.”

“No, I just realized that I was doing it for you, but you were

getting into it for me. I never really liked it,” I said honestly. “But I
still have the tutu. It was cool.”

Damian

“Oh, amante, you are a gem.” Cyrus chuckled, the deep sound

vibrating through his chest and into my back. “I must see this tutu one
day.”

“Yeah, but for now, we all need to get to bed,” I said with a yawn.

The day had wiped me out, and I wanted nothing but to sleep. Hell,
for the first time since I’d met my mate I didn’t even want to fuck like
rabbits. I was that tired. I think Cyrus got the message and understood
because we quickly said our good nights and headed for bed.

A little while later we were snuggled into bed, wrapped around

each other under the soft, warm covers, and for the first time it felt
right to me. We weren’t two strangers sleeping together anymore.
Granted, we were both strange, but we weren’t strangers.

I could deal with strange as long as there was also love.

Joyee Flynn

Chapter 7

Cyrus

I soo didn’t want to go to work Monday morning. I’d spent the

whole weekend with Damian and not just in bed. We went for walks
together, the gym to work out together, and even that steak house he’d
wanted to go to. I liked the little town we were near and the shop
owners all recognized Damian. My mate was truly one of the people
with a golden heart that cared about everyone.

He knew the bakery owner just had another grandchild and

dropped off a gift from the family. And the lady who owned the pizza
shop, her boy just came back from war overseas and Damian knew
that, too, and offered his help if either of them needed anything. And
they all loved him. He was like that guy from Cheers that everyone
called out his name when he walked into a place and everyone adored
him.

When he introduced me as his new husband, most were accepting.

A few gave us shocked and scandalized looks but then seemed to let it
go because it was Damian and he could do no wrong. Part of me
didn’t know if I was tripping on drugs or if someone had  slipped
something in my coffee. I mean,  people weren’t really like this with
each other. At least, not in my experience.

But now it was Monday morning and I wanted to be back in bed

with my mate. He was back to work today as well, light duty and all,
but still back. Actually, he was taking what was basically a field trip,
riding with a load of ultraviolet munitions such as ammo, specialized
guns, and grenades to the Midwest High Council. We were leaving a

Damian

few of our tech guys there to teach them how to start production of
their own before our guys flew back.

It seemed when Riley and Stefan came up with the bullets, they

had no idea the chain reaction it would cause. For the first time in our
history, it seemed as if we were no longer putting a Band-Aid on the
war with the demons… But we were actually starting to win. Oh sure,
we’d never get rid of all of them, but the tables were turning. And it
gave our people hope.

I was just putting my lunch in the fridge of the hospital break

room, laughing at how my mate had slipped in a dirty note about what
he wanted to do to me tonight, when I smelled something rancid. It
took me only a second to realize that it wasn’t expired food.

Oh god, Riley, I thought and raced into my office. I grabbed the

hidden sidearm from my desk that I kept there and ran at blinding
speed, following his scent into his lab. There, outside the door, getting
ready to pounce, were two demons. They stood there in tattered, dirty
clothes. They had their mouths open in cruel grimaces, and I could
see that their fangs were distended. I shot them as I kept moving,
throwing the door open and stepping into the lab, ignoring their high-
pitched screams behind me.

Riley’s head snapped up and his jaw dropped open as he dropped

the beaker he had been twirling. It smelled acidic, explaining why he
didn’t smell the demons. “What the fuck?”

“We have company,” I answered quickly, grabbing a couple more

guns I’d stashed around his lab.

“I didn’t know those were there,” he said, still acting shocked as I

pushed one of them into his hands.

“I know. You weren’t supposed to. Stay behind me and don’t

move more than ten feet away from me. My gift will keep us hidden
while we get out of here,” I ordered as I grabbed his arm and pulled
him from the room.

“Why did you hide guns in my lab?” Really? “I use caustic and

explosive chemicals in there sometimes. Guns in there aren’t smart.”

Joyee Flynn

“For the genius of our race, you’re not too bright sometimes,

Riley,” I mumbled, pushing him against the wall as we moved along
slowly. My gift could hide us from people’s minds, leaving something
like a void in what they saw. But if they knew to look for it, or could
smell us, we could still be a target. They couldn’t hear us, so that
helped, too. “Why do you think you got a warrior medic when you
requested more help? One you didn’t know.”

“You were sent to protect me, too,” he growled. Bingo!
“Yup. That was my first job. Helping you in the clinic was

secondary.” I reached on top of the shelf behind the front desk,
grabbing a few grenades and clips of ammo I’d stashed there. Then I
ran my hand under the desk and hit the silent alarm that would warn
everyone we were under attack and would lock down the Council’s
compound.

“Oh my god, most of the warriors are out with the transport

today,” Riley whispered, realizing the same thing I had. This wasn’t
an accident that the demons had tried to get him today. “Why aren’t
we going out the side door? It’s light outside. The demons can’t be
out there then.”

“We can’t chance that only demons are here. Besides, my car is

always parked right out front in case I ever needed to get you out of
here,” I answered quietly. “If the demons picked today because the
warriors were mostly gone, then they had help.” Maybe he didn’t
understand that yet.

“Why would anyone help them?” Riley asked, sounding a tad

frightened. Yeah, he could be one of those really smart people who
were dense sometimes.

“Later,” I hissed. This was not the time to talk about this. We’d

just passed out of the main clinic doors when three more demons
came rushing down the hall. I shot them, realizing the third one was
already going down by the time I made my shot. Go, Riley! I wish
someone had told me he knew how to use a gun instead of just
coming up with the ammo.

Damian

“I should be pissed at Micah for getting me a bodyguard, but right

now I’m just kinda grateful,” Riley mumbled after they were dead.

“This is way above Micah’s pay grade, Riley. I doubt he even

knows.” Actually, I was pretty sure he didn’t.

“Elena and Desmond?”
“I don’t know. It was Council orders so I’m guessing they knew.”

Two more demons came running when we turned the corner, lashing
out at us with their claws. “Can we talk about this later?” I took them
out, wondering how many more there were and how the hell they got
into the compound during the day. I slipped Riley the fob and keys to
my car. “We get outside, you unlock it, get in the backseat, turn it on,
and duck down.”

“But—”
“No arguments,” I snarled. “Your safety comes first.”
“Okay,” he whispered, shaking. I think he finally realized that the

demons weren’t just attacking the warriors but were there for him.

“Come out, hermanito,” someone called out across the main foyer

as we reached it. I felt my blood run cold.

“Aemilio?” I gasped, knowing only one person who ever called

me that.

“I can smell you, Cyrus. Come out and play,” he taunted. “Bring

your friend.”

“Change of plans,” I whispered as we stepped toward the main

door and I could see my older brother approaching us with an evil
smile on his face. “Run, drive to the Council compound, and tell them
what’s going on.”

Riley hesitated, worry crossing his features. “You know him?”
“I did. My older brother is supposed to be dead,” I answered,

needing someone to know the truth in case I didn’t make it out of this.
Two more demons appeared, and I shot them, my brother snarling in
rage as he made his way to us. We made it to the main door, and I
threw it open, using the sunlight as a weapon to protect Riley. “Go!”

“Come with me,” he begged.

Joyee Flynn

“I need answers and so does the Council if we are to stay safe.” I

shoved him out the door and shut off my gift so my brother could see
me. “Don’t make me shoot you, Aemilio. You saw what these bullets
can do.”

“You got the doctor out,” he growled, a litany of Spanish cuss

words leaving his lips. “Well, at least this trip wasn’t a total failure.
Now you know we’re alive.”

“We’re?” I asked, my knees wanting to give out as my head

swam. “All of you?”

“No, Mother wouldn’t join. Her god would never have approved

of that,” he answered in a mocking tone. “But now we know where
you are and you can join us.” His smile was feral, and gone was the
boy I knew, replaced by this monster with the bloodred eyes.

“Never,” I snarled, leaping on him before he was ready. I didn’t

shoot him. I couldn’t. I should have maybe, but two things stopped
me. He had information we would need, and he was still my brother.
But I needed to get him restrained before more demons came.

“They have taught you well,” he grunted before my fist collided

with his face again. He raked his claws down my right arm and I
blocked out the pain. I reached for my other gun and used it to knock
him out. That was actually much easier than I’d expected. But then
again, my brother wasn’t a warrior. Hell, he wasn’t much bigger than
Riley.

I yanked down a tapestry and wrapped it around Aemilio,

knowing we’d have to move him, and if he went out into the sun, he’d
be ash anyways. Then I pulled out my phone and called Riley.

“Did you make it?”
“Yes, I’m on my way back with Desmond and Victor. He was

speaking to the Council today anyways. I told them that one was your
brother.” He paused, probably unsure of how to ask what needed to be
asked.

“I knocked him out. We need to question him,” I said, making it

easier for him.

Damian

“We’re pulling up now.” I ended the call and stuck my phone

back in my pocket. Then I heaved my burrito-style brother onto my
shoulder and pulled out my gun again, just in case.

I made it to the front door with no problem, glad they had thought

to open the trunk. I dumped him in and got into the front seat while
Victor drove, Desmond and Riley in the back.

“You did good, son,” Desmond said gently. “You saved Riley and

got one of the intruders we can question.”

“It’s not that simple,” I whispered, shaking like a leaf at the idea

that some of my family survived.

“It never is,” he sighed, patting my shoulder. “We’ll get him to

one of the cells in the Council’s basement then regroup at home. The
warriors are on their way back and we’ll figure out what happened.
We’ll get through this.”

“I hope so,” I whispered before dazing out. I barely noticed what

was going on around me, everything having been reduced to
meaningless shapes and colors as my mind drifted elsewhere. Some of
my family was alive… And demons. That was a harsh fucking reality
after twelve hundred years of thinking they were dead.

* * * *

Damian

I raced into the house, hearing commotion coming from the front

room and headed in that direction. I’d been a wreck the flight back
and broke every speed limit getting home from the landing strip. The
room was in chaos, everyone shouting as my mate sat, his whole body
sagging, in one of the chairs, comatose and bleeding.

“Enough!” I roared and raced to his side. “Riley, help me.”
“He won’t let me,” Riley sighed, shaking his head. “He’s in

extreme shock.”

Joyee Flynn

“Fill me in,” I said firmly, staring at my father. He did, and I just

sat there with my mouth hanging open. “Wait, Cyrus was assigned
here to protect Riley?”

“Yes,” my father answered sheepishly, rubbing the back of his

neck.

“And you didn’t think that was something you needed to tell your

son about his mate?”

“I figured he would tell you.” My father shrugged as if saying it

wasn’t his place.

“Bullshit,” I growled, shaking my head. “He was under Council

orders. You knew he wouldn’t tell me.” I glanced between my father
and Riley. “And how did you know he’d need extra protection?” I
was still trying to process that some of Cyrus’s family was actually
alive, but I’d get to that later. Right now I needed the pressing facts.

“It seems my old coven was recently attacked,” Riley said angrily,

not any happier than I was.

“We didn’t know that they were looking for Riley and no one had

been hurt,” my mother added with a sigh. “But we thought it prudent
to take extra precautions.”

“But not tell any of us,” Micah accused.
“Yes, we fucked up, okay?” my mother shouted, silencing

everyone else in the room who was shocked at her outburst. “There’s
no parent handbook to handle situations like this. We screwed up.
You just had a baby and we didn’t want to put extra worry on you
both or any of you.” Tears filled her eyes as she looked between the
three of us, pleading for us to understand.

“I agreed with the decision,” Marian, Riley’s grandma, said

quietly as she stepped closer to Riley. “They told me what was going
on and I asked that they find you a guard but didn’t tell you.”

“You may be adults but you are still our children,” my mother

whispered, her voice sounding slightly strangled from the emotion she
was feeling. One of the tears she had been fighting back fell and

Damian

tumbled down her face. “We can’t help but want to protect you from
some of the harsh realities of life. Besides, we weren’t sure.”

“And Cyrus’s family? Did you know about them?” I asked

bitterly, not ready to forgive them just yet.

“No, how could you think we’d keep that from you?” she asked,

hurt lacing her tone.

I raised an eyebrow and gestured to Riley. “It seems like that

would be another harsh truth you might want to protect us from.”

“No, we had a few guesses that the demons might be out for

Riley, but we had no facts,” my father said firmly, wrapping an arm
around my mother’s shoulders. “If we’d known for sure, we would
have told you. But no, we didn’t know about Cyrus’s family. All
accounts were that they died twelve hundred years ago and we had no
reason to think otherwise.”

“Okay, then,” I replied as I got to my feet, nodding. “But this

keeping shit from us stops. We’re adults and we’re the warriors here.
We should have known you even guessed the demons might be after
Riley.”

“You’re right,” my mother sighed, leaning heavily against my

father. “We’re sorry. We thought we were doing what was right given
all the stress they were under.”

“Fine, then I’m done being mad,” I said, blowing her an air-kiss

before turning to Cyrus. “Mi alma? I need you to snap out of this.”

“We’re done being upset as well,” Riley mumbled from behind

me as he pulled out a pocket flashlight and waved it in front of my
mate’s eyes. “You need to snap him out of this and fast. Otherwise it
could get worse.”

“Good to know.” How the hell did I do that? I thought for a

moment and went with my gut. “Cyrus, you need to come back to me,
okay? I can’t live without you now that I’ve found you. I love you.”

I saw something flicker in his eyes and he started to focus on me. I

mashed my mouth down to his, not giving a fuck who was in the
room. He didn’t respond at first, and I was ready to cry out in despair

Joyee Flynn

when suddenly his hands were behind my head and back, pressing me
closer.

“Say it again,” he growled weakly when we broke the kiss. “I

want to hear the words, Damian.”

“I love you,” I said, letting the emotion cloud my voice. “I knew

from the moment you made me pull over so you could hug me that I
loved you. It didn’t matter if I didn’t know everything about you yet.
My heart knew who you were and loved you. You are my life,
Cyrus.”

“Mine,” he snarled, ripping off my shirt as he moved us to the

floor in a flash. He struck fast, his fangs piercing my neck as he
started shredding our clothes.

“We’ll just give you guys a moment,” my mother said quickly as I

distantly heard everyone leaving the room. Yeah, I couldn’t give a
shit right then if my mate fucked me in front of my family. I was just
too happy that he snapped out of it and I was able to admit how I
really felt about him.

“I love you,” I shouted as he drank from me. He grunted his

acknowledgement and stroked my cock hard.

“Come now,” he ordered as he pulled his fangs from my neck. I

stared deeply into his swirling amber eyes and cried out my release. I
felt him spread my legs wide, both of us naked now. He used my cum
as lube, rubbing it over my hole and then his cock. “You belong to
me, amante. I will kill anyone who tries to take you from me, and if
you run again, I will drag you home and chain you down.”

“Okay,” I whispered, still riding my orgasmic high. “I’m all

yours.”

“Say it again,” he demanded as he lined up his cock with my hole.
“I love you forever.”
He thrust into me hard, all in one shot. It was a lot to take, but the

pain felt so good. “I love you, too.” He bit me again as he pounded
into me like a man on the edge of control.

Damian

“Ah, fuck, mi alma,” I groaned as my cock filled right back up.

“Harder. Claim me in every way!” He snarled around my flesh and
pumped his hips faster. I climbed my legs up his back, folding myself
basically in half so I could take more of him. There was a burn on my
back, and I realized he was fucking me so hard we were moving right
across the carpeted floor from the force of it. It would have been
funny if it wasn’t so damn hot.

Cyrus pulled his fangs back out of my neck. “Come for the man

you love,” he demanded before biting me again on the other side of
my neck. This time, hard enough that I knew there would be bruises,
and he went really deep, not just pricking me but pushing into me all
the way. Kind of like he was in my ass.

I screamed out his name as I filled the space between us with my

seed. Cyrus followed me right over, pumping everything he had to
give inside of me, crying out around my flesh. As we rode it out, I felt
him slump against me, his cock pulsing inside my hole. Yeah, it had
worn me out, too.

“My mate is an animal,” I purred, rubbing his back as I lowered

my legs. My arm came up wet and sticky, and I remembered the claw
marks on his arm. Fuck! “Cyrus, we need to get that looked at.”

Nothing.
“Cyrus?” I was starting to panic. I pushed him slightly and

winced. His fangs were still in my neck. I couldn’t move him without
tearing my throat open. “Fuck!”

I reached to his neck and felt his pulse. His heartbeat was soft, too

quiet against my chest, but it was steady at least, slowing down after
the exertion from sex.

“Come on, my mate. You need to get up.”
I tried a few more times, scared when his heart got quieter. I

didn’t know what to do. His cock was still inside of me, for god
sakes! But none of that mattered more than the chance he was really
hurt. So I did the only think I could think of.

Joyee Flynn

“Riley!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “We need help in

here!” I heard footsteps pounding seconds before the door opened. I
sighed when I realized we were hidden from view by the couch.
“Riley and Victor only. Don’t let Mother see this.”

“Wow, it smells like sex in there.” Noah chuckled as everyone

else started to back out. I was going to kick his ass later.

“Noah.” My mother giggled. I heard the click of the door and

sighed in relief. That could have been worse.

“Umm, are you guys across the room from where you started?”

Riley asked, teasingly as he stepped around the sofa. I met his gaze
and he instantly looked away. “Um, you’re still having sex. Why did
you call out my name?”

“We’re done technically,” I groaned, my mate’s cock softening

and his cum leaking back out of me. “I think his wound is worse than
we thought. He’s out and his heart is slowing down. Help him.”

“And you couldn’t get him off of you?” Victor asked, still not

looking at us either, instead staring fixedly at a spot on the wall.

“Vic, I can’t,” I said quietly. He looked then and I pointed to

where Cyrus’s teeth were embedded in my neck. “I tried but pushing
him off would tear out my throat.”

“Oh fuck,” he exclaimed, all modesty leaving as they hurried to

help us. I moaned as they got him off of me, Cyrus’s dick leaving my
very well-used hole. “Stop fucking moaning.”

“Sorry,” I mumbled sheepishly as my face heated up and I

scrambled out of the way. “Umm, he shredded my clothes.”

“Yeah, that we saw.” Riley chuckled. He pulled off his lab coat

and tossed it to me. It wouldn’t cover all of me and it was too small to
wear, but at least I could use it like a towel. “Get Micah. I’m going to
need him after I heal Cyrus’s arm and then it’s just allowing his body
to recover. You might want to ask him to grab towels and a blanket
for your mate. There’s blood everywhere.”

“Right.” I quickly got to my feet, my legs feeling like gelatin as I

securely wrapped the lab coat around my waist. I’m sure I looked like

Damian

a disaster as I opened the door, Cyrus’s bites still on my body and
bleeding. “Micah, Riley needs you in there.” My brother brushed past
me and into the room. “Remus, can you grab clothes for Cyrus and
me?”

“Yeah, sure.” He snickered, shaking his head. “Nice bites, bro.”
“Shut up,” Noah growled, elbowing his mate. “You bite me just as

much.” I shook my head as they ran off toward my room. That was
more than I needed to know but took some of the awkwardness out of
the situation.

“Mother, we need towels, hot water”—I winced—“and probably

new carpet in here. It seems Cyrus’s wound was worse than we
thought since he left it unattended. He passed out.”

“During?” she asked, her eyes wide before slapping a hand over

her mouth.

“No, right after,” I shot right back before I even realized it. Crap.

“Mother,” I groaned, shaking my head. “He’s hurt. You can all pick
on me later.”

“Right, yeah, just umm, my baby’s having sex,” she grumbled,

gabbing Marian’s hand before rushing to the kitchen.

“Actually, her baby’s bottoming for some killer, very rough sex if

the rug burn on your back is anything to go by,” Virgil mumbled
under his breath.

“Douche. Bag,” I growled before heading back into the sitting

room with my mate. Riley was just finishing up, and Cyrus was
awake now but seemed really out of it.

“He’s going to need to drink from you,” Riley said quietly as he

sat back against Micah. I knew it wasn’t just the healing that had him
so tired, but this whole fucked-up day in general.

“Right, okay,” I agreed hesitantly. My mate went kinda feral the

moment he bit me and I was pretty sure we’d subjected my family to
enough visuals for a lifetime.

Joyee Flynn

“I want my amante,” Cyrus whimpered, his head lolling against

his shoulders. I immediately rushed to him and straddled his lap,
which Victor had used his shirt to cover.

“I’m right here, mi alma,” I said gently as I moved his face to my

neck. “You need to drink, Cyrus.”

“Mine,” he growled, but not with the same strength as normal. He

didn’t bite me though, simply licking the bites that had been there. “I
was too rough with you. I am sorry.”

“Never,” I replied as I ran my fingers through his hair. “Never be

sorry for the way you love me. Your intensity is part of your charm,
Cyrus. I like how passionate and crazy you get when we’re together.
It makes me never doubt that you’d want anyone else.”

“But I want to be gentle with you, too,” he whispered, sounding

sad as he kept licking. His fingers trailed my back, moving under the
lab coat.

“We’re not alone.” I reminded him, starting to pull away. His

other arm clamped around my back like steel as he pushed two fingers
in my hole.

“I do not care who knows the depths of my love and need for you.

I’ve never needed you more, amante. My heart hurts, and I know only
you can soothe it.”

“After you drink from me and heal then. I’m yours any way you

want me as long as you take care of yourself.” I didn’t even lift my
head, trying to wave everyone else out.

“Riley can’t be moved yet,” Micah grumbled. “Today’s been too

much from him.”

“I get that but my mate, who saved him, needs me,” I replied, not

sure what to do. “Riley saved him, too, but—” I gasped. Cyrus bit me
as he pushed in another finger. “Just shut your eyes then.”

“No way, this is hot.” Riley snickered. Fine. Fuck it. They could

watch. I didn’t give a damn right then.

“I love you,” I reminded my mate as my hips started to move of

their own accord, riding his fingers. He growled and drank from me

Damian

deeply. Before I even knew what was happening, he pulled his fingers
out and lowered me onto his cock. I was glad the lab coat was still
secured around my waist and hid some of this from view. I mean,
there was no doubt to the people in the room what was going on, but
they didn’t need to see it all.

“Show me,” he whispered, licking the bite closed. “Ride the man

you love and show me the pleasure only I can give you.”

“Oh, he’s a smooth talker,” Riley mumbled off in the distance. I

didn’t care. I didn’t care if we were in the middle of Times Square
with all my family watching. Cyrus needed this, needed me, and I
would deny him nothing.

I went slowly, taking Cyrus’s face in my hands, making sure he

saw the pleasure on my face.

“So beautiful,” he whispered against my lips. “You own my heart,

amante. Everything I am is yours. My heart beats only if it pleases
you.”

“Then it will beat forever,” I said back, licking his plush lips.

“Because I will always want you with me, Cyrus. I wouldn’t survive
losing you. You have to promise never to leave me.” I felt my eyes
burning, the idea that I could have lost him today too much to handle.
If he had died, I would have followed him, unable to live without part
of my soul.

Realizing this, it made me feel silly that I ever doubted that I

loved him.

Joyee Flynn

Chapter 8

Cyrus

It was music to my ears. Damian loved me and I finally started to

feel worthy of him. He rode me slowly, drawing out our pleasure. I bit
him again, knowing I needed the blood and Damian needed to feel as
close to me as possible.

“Fuck,” he hissed, moving his body faster until he was bouncing

on my lap. “It’s always so good.”

I wasn’t sure if he meant the biting, the sex, the time together, or

just being with me in general, so I decided to think he meant all of it. I
took a few more pulls of his blood before lifting my head and
thrusting up into him. “Come for me now, Damian.”

His eyelashes fluttered as he gasped. I swallowed his cries with

my mouth, relishing that he came all over me just from my command.
My mate loved me. His body loved mine. We were perfectly in sync.
I followed him right over, my cock overflowing his hole. Even as we
rode our bliss together, I was grateful for the lab coat that shielded
most of this from his brothers and Riley.

Why hadn’t they left again? Oh well. I didn’t care. I had the man

of my dreams in my arms and that’s all that mattered to me.

“I love you,” Damian mumbled as he slumped against me,

thoroughly sated.

“And I you, amante,” I whispered against his curls. I glanced up

and saw Riley licking his lips while Victor and Micah were looking
anywhere else.

Damian

“He comes on command,” Micah mumbled to Victor, trying for

all us not to hear it… But we did.

“So do you sometimes,” Riley chastised. “So do we all when our

bodies are in sync. Don’t judge, Mr. I’ve-never-been-with-a-man-
before-I-met-my-mate.”

“Fair enough.” I could almost hear Micah’s blood rushing to his

face as he blushed. I’d have to thank Riley for that one later and get
Damian to tell me the story behind that.

“I’m horny now,” Riley whined, moving his ass against his mate’s

groin. “It’s our turn.”

“I don’t like an audience,” Micah growled as he picked up his

mate. “And you need more blood.”

“Fine, I’ll drink while you fuck me,” Riley purred. I wanted to

laugh when Micah rolled his eyes and raced out of the room, his mate
slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

“Is it safe to come in?” Elena called out from the other side of the

door.

“No,” Victor and I shouted. He ran to the door and got some

supplies, namely towels and clothes. He brought them over and I gave
him a nod.

“Thank you.”
“No problem, brother,” he said with a smile. “You really love

Damian. As much as I didn’t ever want to see something like that, I
couldn’t miss the love between you both. I will never question you’re
the right man for him again.”

My throat closed at the swarming emotions I was feeling. That

might have been one of the nicest things anyone had ever said to me.

“I’m still punching you for getting involved before,” Damian said

with a yawn. “Now quit checking out my fine ass so we can get
dressed and get on with what we need to.”

“Right, like I’d want your twerp butt when my mate’s got a

booty,” Victor replied, laughing as he stepped out of the room.

100

Joyee Flynn

“Do not listen to him, amante. You have the best butt in the

world,” I purred as I lifted him off my lap.

“I’m glad you think so, but I’m also glad Victor doesn’t. That

would just be weird.” He made a gagging motion as he pulled on the
sweatpants his brother had gotten him before cleaning us both up of
the blood we’d had smeared on our shoulders and chests. I dressed in
my scrubs as he yanked on a shirt, making sure we were decent before
we opened the door.

“I think we need to open a window,” Elena said gently, not

meeting either of our gazes as she went to do just that.

“Don’t even say it,” Damian growled at Stefan, who had a big evil

smile on his face.

“What?” he asked, batting his eyelashes innocently at me.
“I’m just jealous,” Patrick said with a pout as he plopped on the

couch. “Stefan doesn’t jump me anymore, ripping off my clothes no
matter who’s around and giving me rug burn.”

“Okay, now my embarrassment’s complete,” Damian groaned,

shaking his head. I laughed and grabbed him around the waist, pulling
him down onto my lap as we sat in one of the big chairs.

“Thank you for putting that aside and being there for me when I

needed you. Whether I was acting appropriately or not,” I said,
making sure everyone heard me take the blame. I didn’t want him to
be so embarrassed, even if the teasing wasn’t mean.

“It was fun though,” he hissed in my ear so only I could hear. “I’d

do anything for you, mi alma.”

“I hate to ruin the mood,” Desmond said as he sat down with

Elena, looking older and tired suddenly. “But your brother isn’t
talking besides demanding to see you.”

I swallowed past the large lump that was in my throat, nodding

my head. “Okay, let me shower and change and I’ll go right over.”

“Not alone you’re not,” Damian said firmly. He turned in my lap

and shot me a look that told me he wasn’t budging. That was fine with

Damian

101

me. Now that I’d let him in, I didn’t think I could do this alone. It was
just too much, and I’d not dealt with emotions for so long.

“Of course we’re all going. One of our family needs our support.”

Elena agreed, giving me the same stern but kind look Damian was.

“Thank you. I–I’m not sure this is something I can shut off or

umm, handle.” It was one of the hardest things I’d ever had to admit,
but these were the people I could be most honest with in the world. It
was not easy for me to do, but I figured once I started, it would be as
easy as walking.

Or not. But I was going with that as my current plan.
“You know how this will end though, Cyrus. I’m hesitant to say

you should go,” Desmond said kindly, his eyes shining. “He will be
put to death for his crimes and no one should have to go interrogate
their own brother.”

“I need answers,” I replied. My throat was dry with emotion, so

my words came out as a croak. “He said my family is alive besides
my mother. I need to know if they’re all demons or what happened.”

“Okay, then let’s get this done so we can start putting it behind us.

The demons got into the warrior compound, during the day, without
tripping any alarms. Someone got them in and there’s a lot of work
ahead of us.” He stood, his hand in Elena’s as my mate’s family…my
family all rallied around me for support.

It was a wonderful gesture, and I appreciated it. It didn’t make me

feel any less as if I was about to walk in front of the firing squad.

* * * *

Damian

My mate was a mess. Granted, he wasn’t bawling in a corner or

anything, but he was hurting bad, and I could tell his thoughts were all
over the place. I think after so much time of shutting off his emotions,
now that he turned them on, he didn’t have a clue as to how to control

102

Joyee Flynn

them. I mean, that was something we learned over time but if he never
learned it… They were just running away with him.

Not that it wasn’t understandable under the circumstances. Hell,

I’d be in the fetal position singing I’m an Oscar Mayer Weiner if the
situation was reversed. I couldn’t even begin to fathom the pain I’d be
in if I thought I’d lost Victor centuries ago, only to find out he was
alive and a demon. I mean, talk about harsh.

“I love you,” I whispered in his ear, kissing his cheek. He gave me

a soft smile before stepping into the cell with his brother, who was
sitting on the floor, his arms above his head with his hands chained to
the wall and his feet shackled to the floor. The expression on his face
as he watched all of us approach was murderous.

It had taken us less than an hour to get our act together, cleaned

up, and back to the Council’s compound. Cyrus has been a ball of
nerves the whole ride and it had killed me that I couldn’t help him
more.

“Cómo estás vivo?” Cyrus asked the moment he walked into the

cell and the door was closed behind him. Victor had opted to go in as
well, just in case Aemilio got out of his chains.

“I have a feeling this is going to need subtitles,” Patrick

complained. Yeah, I was right there with him. I thought I knew, but
when it involved my mate, I wanted to be damn sure.

“Elegí el lado derecho,” Aemilio replied.
“Cyrus asked how he’s alive,” Riley said quietly. “And Aemilio

said he chose the right side.” He turned to Mother and shrugged. “I’ll
translate for Aemilio if you want.”

“Okay, I will for Cyrus,” she replied with a nod. Then my mate

started rattling off in Spanish faster than I could imagine anyone
could keep up. “How could you say becoming a demon is the right
side? You killed to be like this, Aemilio. The brother I loved would
never have done that. Swear words, lots of cussing. Oh, that’s a
creative one. Not sure I heard that before.”

“Mother,” I hissed, knowing she was trying to lighten the mood.

Damian

103

Riley started after Aemilio spoke again. “And the brother I loved

wasn’t some fucking faggot. Bring your little bitch in here. We can
kill him together. Drain him and rape him and I will know you’ve
chosen your own family instead of these imposters. Join us, brother.”
Cyrus moved faster than even my eyes could keep up with. All I saw
was Aemilio’s head move backward violently and blood spray from
his mouth as Cyrus pulled back his hand.

“Don’t you dare speak of my mate like that,” my mother

translated as Cyrus shouted angrily, his chest heaving. “He is my
family. Not the monster before me. You led me to believe you were
dead! How could you? Twelve hundred years and you break into the
warrior compound and try to take a friend like you were dropping by
to say hi. Who is still alive? Father? Anyone else?”

“Who do you think got the demons to get organized?” Riley said

for Aemilio. “They were all flailing about before Father took over. He
slaughtered the demons who killed our coven after we agreed to join
them and became their leader. I volunteered for this assignment when
I heard you’d been relocated and were living with the doctor.”

“Why come for Riley? The weapons are already made.”
“We got word he was working on something new. And Father

thought it would be a sign that playing with dangerous toys came with
a price. Come on, Cyrus. We can still get out of here and take him.
Father wants to make his torture very public before leaving him
gutted—” Riley stopped, going pale as he leaned against the wall. He
looked like a man who had just realized he’d escaped a fate worse
than death.

“Your mate saved my life a thousand times over if they were

going to do to me what Aemilio says,” he whispered, looking at me
with tears in his eyes.

“How did you get into the compound?” Mother said for my mate.

“And during the daylight no less?”

“These vampires are so proud, so arrogant. They didn’t think

slime like demons would ever be so bold to dare attack them on their

104

Joyee Flynn

own turf.” My father took Riley’s place, wrapping an arm around
Micah, who was holding his mate. “We got one of the kitchen staff
and gave him a few bites and he was begging to tell all he knew.”

“Why are you confessing all of this?”
“Because there’s nothing your listening vampires can do. We’re

everywhere and we’re growing. We will win this war and convert or
destroy them all.”

My mother’s face became ashen at the news. Yeah, I wasn’t a fan

of that either. “Who is still alive?”

Aemilio gave a toothy smile before slowly saying names. “Pablo,

Eduardo, and Emelda, along with myself, all rule the demons with
Father.”

“All of you besides Mother?” my mother said for Cyrus, who

looked like he’d just been kicked in the sac. “Why?”

“Osvaldo Diaz just became public enemy number one,” my father

said quietly before continuing to interpret. “It was better than death
and when we saw how powerful the demons are, it was a no-brainer.”

“Who did you kill to become like this?”
“As many as I could,” Father translated for Aemilio, shivering at

the idea.

“What’s your endgame?”
“We’re going to kill all the righteous vampires you so love and

enslave the humans. They should bow and beg for mercy from the
superior beings that surround them.” I thought my father was going to
vomit on that one.

Cyrus turned back to us, switching to English. “Is there anything

else you need to know?”

“No, I think we’ve found out enough. The demons are organized

now and attacking covens and compounds. We need to change our
strategy. They aren’t waiting for us to hunt them down anymore,”
Father said, looking tired and apprehensive. “He won’t tell you where
they are. He’ll just send us on a wild-goose chase that could get
people killed.”

Damian

105

“You may not be as stupid as we thought, but you will die

anyway, Desmond,” Aemilio said in English. “All your family will. It
will be so easy to get into your homes. It’s already begun and you
don’t even know it. If I die today, another will rise and take my place.
Just as you would avenge your son, my father’s wrath will be
tremendous.”

“End this,” I hissed to my father, seeing how it was hurting my

mate.

He nodded, letting go of Micah and grabbing his sword that

Stefan handed to him. “Aemilio Diaz, for crimes against humanity,
betraying your people and your soul, I sentence you to death.”

“I will do it,” Cyrus said quietly as Father opened the cell door.

“He is my family and mine to deal with, clean up after. He has
betrayed the Diaz name.”

“You are part of this family now,” Father replied gently,

extending his hand and holding onto Cyrus’s shoulder. My mate
nodded, meeting his gaze. “Then, as head of this family, I take the
responsibility for myself, son. I will not allow you to carry this
burden.”

“Thank you, Padre,” Cyrus whispered, his shoulders shaking. “I

would—”

“Of course you would,” Father interrupted. “But you don’t have

to. That’s what family is for.”

Cyrus stood there, bracing himself to watch. I darted in the cell

and grabbed his arm. “Watching this won’t bring back your brother.
The man there is not him anymore, Cyrus. Don’t torture yourself this
way.”

“No, this time I must witness his demise as I will all of them. It’s

the only way I can be sure and know there will be no more mind
games,” he replied, pulling me into his arms. “My nightmares have
been plagued with centuries of unanswered questions about how and
when they died. Not witnessing this might be truly worse.”

106

Joyee Flynn

I wasn’t sure of that, but I would support his decision and be there

for him. He nodded to Father, who swiftly raised and lowered his
sword, taking Aemilio’s head. The body turned to ash seconds later,
and my family started to file solemnly out of the holding cell area.

“I’m so sorry, mi alma,” I whispered, hugging him tightly.
“I’m sorry this was what he became. The brother I loved and

knew would have chosen to die rather than become a demon. I cannot
fathom what they did to him to warp and change his mind… All of
their minds. Either way, they are the enemy now, no longer my
family, and need to be dealt with.”

“You will not carry that burden alone,” Father said as he handed

his sword to Victor. He pulled my mate away and embraced him in a
bear hug, as a father would. Cyrus shuddered and let out centuries of
anguish. I wrapped my body around his back, scared that something
broke in my mate as his loud sobs filled the cell. I would do anything,
anything to help him through this.

Just as I knew my entire family would.
It was a shorter crying jag than I would have thought, but once he

calmed down, Victor gave him a quick one-armed hug and we left. I
was okay if Cyrus never had to go down there again. Some things
didn’t need to be revisited.

“Are you okay?” Cyrus asked me as we got near the front lobby.
“You’re asking me if I’m okay?” I couldn’t believe how

wonderful he was, checking on me after all he’d been through. I
shook my head, giving him a weak smile.

“This is going to be hard on everyone,” he said gently.

“Everything is changed now and we’re at war like we’ve never been
before.”

“We’ll beat them. All of them,” I replied firmly, gesturing to all

my family. “And we’re not alone. Okay? No matter what happens,
don’t ever forget that we have help in this.”

“Thank you, amante.” He leaned over and kissed my cheek. We

walked out the doors, darkness having fallen by the time we were

Damian

107

done. Riley was thanking my mate once again. I couldn’t help the
smile of pride that my mate had saved Riley, who was basically one
of my brothers.

I was just about to tell him that when I saw Cyrus’s and Victor’s

heads jerk toward the left, and my mate dove to knock Riley down. I
heard the shot and turned in its direction, knowing Cyrus would
protect Riley, who they were obviously aiming at.

Holy shit! I saw a man on an adjacent building’s roof who was the

spitting image of Cyrus, but twisted, dark. He stood slowly, pointing
to me and then making a slashing gesture across his throat.

Message received. They were out for me now, too, knowing I was

Cyrus’s mate and he’d picked me over his family. Before I could even
move, the man jumped down and was gone. Stefan and Gabriel
immediately gave chase. I was about to when my mother’s words
stopped me.

“Cyrus got hit,” she shouted, trying to get my attention.
“No,” I whispered, turning toward them as if my feet were now

cement, in a creepy slow-motion movement. Father rolled Cyrus off
of Riley, who immediately scrambled to his feet and applied pressure
on my mate’s back.

“Micah, get my bag,” he shouted, chaos erupting around me as I

still couldn’t seem to move.

“No!” I screamed, finally able to move. I dove by my mate’s head,

frantic. “Don’t you dare fucking leave me, Cyrus.”

“It’s just a shoulder scratch,” he said, smiling up at me. “No big

deal.” I glanced at Riley, who was nodding.

“It’s a big deal but he’ll heal as soon as I get the bullet out. It’s

lodged in his shoulder, but there’s no risk of it being fatal.”

“Fuck a duck,” I whined, my calm composure through all of this

gone. “Okay, no more being shot at. No more getting hurt. No more
fucking injuries to anyone here! I’m tired of this shit.”

“Damian,” Cyrus said quietly, rolling his eyes.

108

Joyee Flynn

“No!” I pointed my finger in his face. “No fucking way. I’m not

losing you or anyone else in this family if I have to set off ultraviolet
grenades everywhere we go before we step outside. This is bullshit.”

“Damian,” he repeated.
“How much shit can we take? First they’re after Riley. Then

again. Now the guy made a slashing-my-throat gesture. Aemilio
wanted to kill and rape me. What the fuck? Demons suck!”

“Damian.”
“What?” I roared, not happy he was interrupting my hysterical

rant.

“I love you.” And just like that, all my rage and anger drained

away.

“I love you, too.”
“We’ll get through this, amante. I won’t ever leave you. Hell, if

we have to die, we’re going together.”

“Okay,” I whispered, wincing as Cyrus gasped in pain when Riley

got the bullet out. I’d been so into my rant that I hadn’t noticed Micah
brought his bag and he’d gotten to work.

“Now that it’s out,” Cyrus said with a smile, sitting up. “I’m

hungry. Chinese maybe?”

“You are insufferable. How are you not upset that your father or

brother just shot you?” I asked with a growl, kissing him fiercely. He
returned the passion, only breaking apart when Stefan and Gabriel
jogged back over to us.

“We lost him. We’ll pick up the trail in the daylight and when we

have more backup,” Gabriel announced, looking pissed.

“We’ll find Eduardo,” he said with conviction. I guess that

answered who the shooter was. How creepy was it that it was Cyrus’s
brother? And why was he not freaking out? As if knowing what I was
going to ask, he answered. “It’s him but it’s not. That’s the best way I
can rationalize this. His soul is gone and the man I knew is dead. Evil
animates his body, but that doesn’t make him alive.”

Damian

109

“However you want to look at it that helps you is fine with me,” I

replied immediately. “Just promise not to shut me out, okay? We’ve
come so far that if you shut back down, I’d become a worried mess
and freak out on you.”

“I wouldn’t want that.” He snickered, giving me another kiss.
“Thank you, Cyrus,” Micah said as he hugged Riley, who looked

as if he couldn’t breathe from the force of it. I met his gaze and he,
too, rolled his eyes. “You saved him twice. I couldn’t even imagine
trying to raise our daughter alone or going on without him. Thank
you, brother.”

“It was instinct,” he replied, going to shrug and then thinking

better of it. I could tell he was embarrassed with all the praise. He’d
get over it. I was ready to kiss his feet for saving Riley, too, and I
wasn’t even mated to the man. But I did love Riley as well. We all
did.

“It was selfless,” Micah said, shaking his head. “You’re nothing

like the man we just talked to. Don’t ever think you are just because
your family chose that path. Damian wouldn’t love you if you could
ever end up a demon.”

“How did you—” Cyrus started to ask, looking shocked and a

little sick that they knew.

“Because it was written all over your face and a logical thing to

think,” Riley answered before Cyrus even got the words out. “My
family, save my grandmother, was slaughtered by demons. I was a
child and in the house when it happened. When we heard your family
might still be alive but demons, I found myself wondering how I
would have handled it. It was the same question I was asking myself.
You’re not them, Cyrus.”

“Thank you. That means a lot to me.” We all got to our feet,

Micah still plastered to Riley, kissing every inch of his skin that he
could. I felt for my brother. Twice in one day his mate was attacked.
Hell, he’d almost lost Riley once before.

110

Joyee Flynn

Ours was a dangerous life, and so far we’d all come out of it

unscathed, but I couldn’t help but fear we wouldn’t always be so
lucky.

Morbid? Yes, but reasonable.
“Chinese it is,” Mother said with a smile, standing on her toes and

pulling Cyrus down for a kiss on the cheek. He went willingly, going
a little stiff in my arms but not fighting. It was an adjustment for him
but one he’d get used to. My family was loving and affectionate.
“Thank you for saving one of my boys, son. You did good.”

Cyrus cleared his throat of his emotions and nodded.
We all got back into our cars and headed home, Stefan and Patrick

volunteering to go into town and pick up the food. As we drove home,
my hand in Cyrus’s, I couldn’t imagine my life without him anymore.
And as much as I hated the demons, they were the reason he was in
my life.

“Okay, I gotta ask,” Micah said from the driver’s seat, breaking

the silence. We were in his car, along with Riley. “What was this
weapon Aemilio talked about?”

“Solar flare security system,” Riley answered, blushing. “I figured

if we could get ultraviolet-type lights built into the sensors, then
demons would get burned if they even stepped onto the property. I’m
just finished actually.”

“Baby, I don’t know if I should be impressed and screaming that

you’re a genius or throttling you because of course they’d come after
you now,” Micah said with a growl.

“My question is if even you didn’t know, how did the demons find

out?” Yeah, I agreed with Cyrus. The kitchen staff who told the
demons how to get into the compound couldn’t have known that.

“You’re going to be the likeliest suspect,” Riley said gently to my

mate as he looked at us over his shoulder. “Only a few people have
access to my lab.”

“I—”

Damian

111

Riley held up his hand, shaking his head. “I know it wasn’t you.

Even if you hadn’t kept saving my life, I would never have doubted
you. But given this new development with your family and that you
work in the clinic with me, people will wonder. I thought it was only
fair to give you the heads-up.”

“Well, that just blows,” I grumbled. I wasn’t known for my

eloquence.

“Yeah. It does,” Cyrus agreed with a pout.
“Well, we know the truth,” Micah said, giving me a wink in the

rearview mirror. “And we can just sick Damian on anyone who says
otherwise. He throws a mean right hook.”

“I still have a few of you left to punch,” I replied with a wide

smile.

“You seriously have been punching your brothers for pulling me

aside and getting my head out of my ass?” Cyrus gaped at me as if I’d
grown a second head.

“Hey, being the youngest of seven taught me a lot. One thing was

to never make a threat unless you’re willing to go through with it.” I
shrugged. “I’ll let Riley off the hook since he took the bullet out of
your shoulder.”

“Gee, thanks.” Riley snickered. The car was suddenly filled with

peals of laughter. There may be a war coming or one already upon us,
but it was simple moments like this that would get us through it. That
and the man beside me. The one who showed me I wasn’t a freak for
what I needed, opened up his heart so I’d be happy, and loved me as I
loved him.

THE END

WWW.JOYEEFLYNN.COM

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joyee Flynn grew up in Chicago living in the same house all her

life until she left for college. Though she has a great life, she loves to
get lost in fantasy that only books could bring. Her wide interest in
reading was reflected in her writings. Currently Joyee lives with her
dog, Marius, named after a vampire from Anne Rice’s Interview with
the Vampire series. She dreams of one day living out in Montana,
enough land to have a few horses, and find a couple of cowboys of
her own.

A lover of men, Joyee’s all about them in any form in her books.

Vampire, werewolf, military, doesn’t matter at all as long as they are
hot, hard, and sex fiends!

Also by Joyee Flynn

Classic ManLove Marius Brothers 1: Micah

Classic ManLove Marius Brothers 2: Remus

Classic ManLove Marius Brothers 3: Stefan
Classic ManLove Marius Brothers 4: Victor

For all other titles, please visit

Document Outline