C

SECRETS AND LIES

Amanda Young

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Secrets and Lies

Amanda Young

This e-book is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or
existing locations, the names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the
author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or
dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.


Published by
Loose Id LLC
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Carson City NV 89701-1215
www.loose-id.com

Copyright © June 2008 by Amanda Young

All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the purchaser of this e-book ONLY. No part of
this e-book may be reproduced or shared in any form, including, but not limited to printing,
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ISBN 978-1-59632-706-1
Available in Adobe PDF, HTML, MobiPocket, and MS Reader

Printed in the United States of America


Editor: Jana J. Hanson
Cover Artist: Croco Designs

www.loose-id.com

Prologue

In the beginning, mankind came in many forms. They lived as one race and embraced

their differences in the battle against the cruelties of nature. Time moved on, slowly and
surely. Man evolved. Survival was no longer mankind’s main enemy. Deprived of that outlet,
they found new ways to unleash their anger. They fought one another. Prejudices grew as
the social order splintered, and those who were inherently different were cast out.

Eschewed from the protection of the main group and too vastly outnumbered to fight

for their place, the outcasts banded together and turned to the wise Daywalkers for guidance.
An accord was struck: in exchange for the blood sustenance necessary for their survival, the
Daywalkers led their abandoned brethren into the farthest reaches of the untamed
wilderness.

Once there, the Daywalkers organized clans among the diverse species and established

a ruling body comprised of twelve men -- two from each of the clans -- who made all-
important decisions. The group of outcasts honored their agreement and provided the
Daywalkers with feeders from the most robust of the shunned, select members of the
Gorgonopsian shifters. Hunting parties were formed and ordered to provide the shifters with
nourishment from the plentiful supply of wild beasts that roamed outside the perimeters of
their camp.

For thousands of years, the ousted clans lived in peace and thrived, growing in number

until it became necessary to expand. Scouts were sent to secure new lands and, in the
process, discovered that entire cities had sprung up in their absence, the memory of those
shunned all but forgotten.

A vote to slowly integrate into the whole of civilization was fought over until it was

clear there would be no unanimous victor. The Daywalkers were the most adamant about
infiltrating the human cities and held fast to their desires. Times had changed for the better,

2

Amanda Young

and the Daywalkers wanted to be a part of the progress, no longer satisfied to live in the wild
and make do with the simple rusticity they’d built. With the exception of the Gorgonopsians,
who had long since bonded with the Daywalkers, the clans were content and had no desire
to risk their young in a move that could prove disastrous.

In a fit of temper, the Daywalkers seceded from the community, taking the

Gorgonopsians with them as companions and a mobile food source during their travels. It
was the last anyone would see of the Gorgonopsian shifters.

In the dawn of the seventeenth century, the Daywalkers first discovered the

ramifications of allowing a human to bite back. Through the transmission of blood, the
original genetic mutation that made the Daywalkers unique was able to latch onto human
DNA and irreversibly change it into something not quite human but not purely Daywalker
either -- a perversion of both races. Once the transformation was made, there was no turning
back.

One creature created another, two becoming four and so on, until the mutation spread

far and wide. Vampire legends once again ran rampant across the continents. Those afflicted
inherited all of the Daywalkers weaknesses and very few of their strengths. Because of their
extreme allergy toward the sun and their need to ingest much larger quantities of blood in
order to survive, the abnormal subspecies were dubbed Nightfeeders.

In conjunction with the council member’s dictates, the Daywalkers scurried to teach

their new brethren the laws of their kind, but quickly realized they were fighting a losing
battle. The Nightfeeders refused to follow the rules of discretion and went on a killing
rampage that rivaled the plagues. Orders were passed to exterminate the Nightfeeders. The
tides turned. Nightfeeder numbers dwindled. Those who survived quickly fell in line with
the council’s mandates as a means to save their kind.

Peace was restored and continued for many years, until a rash of murders swept the

continents, taking out one faction of Daywalkers after another. A rush to apprehend the
unidentified culprits failed in spectacular fashion. While the world focused on the peace
talks between China and Japan and the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby, the once mighty
Daywalkers were annihilated as quietly as they’d existed.

Secrets and Lies

3

Chapter One

Teague Johnson appeared calm and in control at all times. He’d been accused of being a

heartless bastard more than he cared to recall. It was a common enough misconception. No
one -- save his older brother Cadge -- had ever been able to see beneath the icy veneer he
shared with the world. Teague liked it that way. Especially at rare times like now, when his
internal thermostat was set to boil, and he felt anything but composed.

The hard-on he’d woken up with that evening refused to go down. It outlasted an

argument with Cadge about his endless obsession with the past and then continued unabated
through the nightly procedures to prepare the club for business. Even now, as he walked
through the crowd and nodded at people, his balls felt tight and heavy; his dick ached for
attention from the one man he had no business fraternizing with.

Teague felt sure Kyle would show up tonight, as he had every Saturday for the last few

months, but he was torn about how he should respond. If he were a smart man, he’d walk
away and find someone else to fuck. There were bona fide reasons for why he shouldn’t form
attachments to a human, regardless of what his dick craved.

To further rattle his concentration, the club was crawling with Nightfeeders and

varying forms of shifters. Having so many creatures under the same roof made Teague
twitchy. He didn’t mind the shifters so much; they could get a little rougher than necessary
at times, but discretion seemed to be coded into their genes. Nightfeeders, however, were a
different story. Teague’s skin crawled with thoughts of what they were capable of.

After five years of running Club Oasis and a lifetime of trying to blend in among the

lesser subspecies of his own race, he should have been accustomed to being around
Nightfeeders. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. The bloodsucking fiends caused too much
trouble for him not to be wary -- for the kind of danger they posed to him

and

his human

clientele. The last mess he’d been forced to clean up hadn’t been pretty, and he damn sure

4

Amanda Young

didn’t want to find himself in that sort of position again. He’d put safeguards in place to
protect his members, but where there was a will, there was a way.

Teague broke away from the herd of people skirting the outer edges of the dance floor

and headed across the room. The throng of bodies thinned out the farther he walked, and he
would’ve sworn the temperature dropped ten degrees. The club was hopping, people packed
in like sardines as they swilled liquor and fed off the vibe of party favors and sexual
conquests yet to come. Heavy metal music piped through the sound system, the guitar riff
electric and wild, like the cacophony of human heartbeats echoing in his ears. He stopped
outside the lounge -- a separate area cordoned off and insulated with thick, soundproof
sliding glass doors for those members who wanted to socialize without having to scream over
the music -- and surveyed the mob with all the enthusiasm of a man facing the gallows of
yore.

“Yo, boss man.” Teague glanced at Joe, his right-hand man and most trusted bouncer,

who stood off to one side grinning like a loon. The flashing lights reflected off his wide
forehead as he nodded toward the bar. “Your boy toy is here.”

“What-the-fuck-ever,” Teague scoffed, rolling his eyes. He kept his gaze locked on Joe’s

ugly mug, although he yearned to look around for Kyle. The human was quickly becoming
an addiction he couldn’t afford.

Joe laughed. “Your boy looks ripe for the pickin’ tonight. You’d better stake your claim

before someone sweeps that pretty piece of meat right out from underneath you.”

“Men are not pretty, and he is not my

anything

.” So what if Teague kept vowing that

he would stop fucking the stunning blonde. He had yet to follow through with it, although
he would have to end things eventually, possibly even later that night.

After I have another

a e o wha Ky e i oh so wil ing to share

. There was no shame in taking advantage of what

the other man offered. It wasn’t like Teague had ever promised anything, other than sex.

t st

f

t

l s

l

“Well, you do what you like about the pretty boy, boss, but there are some new

members who want to speak to you about reserving the club later this year for a private
party. I know it isn’t something you like to do, but they’re waving around cash like it’s
Monopoly money.”

Teague sighed. “All right. Go find them and bring them over, but I’m not promising

anything.”

“Sure thing, boss. You stay put, and I’ll be right back with them.”

He waited until after Joe walked off before looking for the man who’d consumed his

every waking thought and half his dreams to boot. He spotted Kyle leaning against the bar
closest to the dance floor; the bright white T-shirt and snug faded jeans made him stand out
like a spotlight amid the sea of leather clad partiers.

An aura of innocence clung to Kyle as he gaped at the spectacle around him. With his

sandy blond hair, shorn close on the sides and long enough to hang down over his forehead,

Secrets and Lies

5

and large expressive eyes that reflected his nervousness more than the way he kept a death
grip on his beer bottle, he looked like a virgin waiting to be deflowered.

Teague’s intimate knowledge of Kyle belied the man’s appearance. That didn’t prevent

the thought of being the one and only to despoil Kyle from making Teague’s dick leak. He
reached down and discreetly adjusted his package.

I’m definitely getting a piece of that

tonight

.

Teague spotted Joe approaching, several other men tagging along behind him, and

pulled his gaze away from Kyle. There would be plenty of time for dalliances later, after he
took care of a little business.

6

Amanda Young

Chapter Two

Kyle Drake leaned against the large, circular bar set dead center in the cavernous room

and took a languorous sip from the longneck beer bottle gripped in his clammy fist. He gazed
restlessly over the crowded dance floor, unmoved by the sight of dozens of sweaty men and
women in various stages of undress, bumping and grinding to the heavy thump of classic
rock that pulsed out of the loudspeakers overhead. The scene should’ve had some effect on
him, since the men outnumbered the women by a ratio of six to one, but it didn’t. All those
hot male bodies rutting and writhing -- acres of scantily clad flesh to choose from -- and all
he felt was impatience.

Taking another long pull from his drink, Kyle turned his focus to the small clusters of

people socializing here and there along the fringes of the large open room. He squinted to see
better through the dim atmosphere, searching for one man who made his pulse pound and
his dick ache for attention.

A pale, ginger haired man, dressed in black denim and a sleeveless black T-shirt that

accentuated his bulging biceps, walked past Kyle and looked him over. Kyle glanced away
before the other man thought he was interested. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the
redhead shrug and moved on.

Since he’d arrived at Club Oasis thirty minutes ago, Kyle had been cruised by several

men and women. Their gazes had met his for just the right duration; their come hither smiles
trying to lure him into accompanying them out onto the packed dance floor or, more likely,
into one of the secluded booths in the back room. His face heated as he recalled the way one
woman had pulled down her stretchy shirt and waved her pendulous breasts at him, pouting
when he shook his head and looked away. She’d had a nice pair, he had to give her that, but
he’d never been much on tits.

Firm pecs and hard nipples are much more my style

.

Secrets and Lies

7

Through it all, his dick remained flaccid inside the snug black jeans he’d squeezed into

earlier in the evening. His body refused to react to their offerings, holding out for the one
man who turned his insides to putty and made him come so hard his eyes rolled back in his
head. A man Kyle already knew he couldn’t have for anything more than a casual fuck.

Teague Johnson, sex on legs and co-owner of Club Oasis, was an enigma. An unending

mix of smooth sensuality and mystery that Kyle’s brain raced to unravel, while his body
simply yearned for more. More contact, more time…more everything.

Kyle had met the other man upon joining the club with his then boyfriend Darren and

had instantly been attracted to the tall, virile man. Shortly thereafter, Darren had ditched
him for an older, richer, sugar daddy, and Kyle had been free to indulge in his desire for
Teague.

After the first hasty fuck in the back room, he honestly hadn’t expected to get a repeat

performance from the sexy club proprietor. He’d been off his game that night, so excited by
the prospect of cornering the other man that he’d shot his load almost the minute Teague
pushed inside him. Mortification was an understatement compared to what he felt in
response to popping off like a horny boy with his thieved copy of Playgirl. To his surprise,
Teague had approached him the following weekend, and their routine was born. For the last
few months, they’d been fucking every Saturday.

Kyle kept waiting for Teague to move onto someone fresh and new, but he hadn’t yet.

The arrangement would have been perfect, and had been for a couple of months, but lately
Kyle found himself wanting to

talk

to the other man, to share things he had no business

discussing with someone who was only a fuck buddy.

The situation was as annoying as it was hopeless. Yet there he stood, back at the club

on Saturday night, waiting to see if he’d have another shot at the man he was quickly falling
for, despite the knowledge that his feelings would never be returned. Coming here, making
himself available, was an effort in futility. It was also a compulsion Kyle couldn’t resist.

He was smart enough to realize things would end badly -- probably sooner rather than

later. That hadn’t stopped him from acting on the strong impulse to be with Teague, not
tonight or any of the previous nights he’d broken down and given in to the urge. His sexual
demons rode him as hard as he yearned for Teague’s touch. No matter how pathetic and
empty he felt afterward, there was just something about the other man that kept drawing
him back for more.

Finally, he spotted Teague off to the right side of the building near the entrance. The

other man loomed a head above the crowd, chatting with a small group of men Kyle didn’t
recognize. Even amid the cluster of more heavily built men decked out in everything from
leather to spandex, Teague stood out like a beacon, a flame among the embers.

Kyle watched as his lover’s gaze casually scanned the room, even as he laughed in

response to something one of the men said. Although he knew he was staring like a lovelorn
kid, Kyle couldn’t look away. This was Teague in his element, always watchful, always…

on

.

8

Amanda Young

It made him wonder what his lover would be like outside of work.

Would he be alert and

reserved as he was here

? The thought skittered away when Teague turned in his direction

and their gazes clashed across the space separating them.

Kyle shivered, Teague’s penetrating stare as potent as a hand caressing his fly, and lifted

his beer in way of hello. Teague acknowledged Kyle with a barely perceivable nod before
turning his attention back to the men around him.

Kyle’s pulse thrummed, his blood rushing south to fill his shaft, making it ache from

just one simple glimpse of his lover. He gulped down the last of his beer, the semi-cold dregs
barely enough to quench his thirst, and set the empty bottle down on the bar. Glancing at his
watch, he pushed the button on the side to light up the face and noted it was nearly
midnight.

After sneaking one last glance at his lover, Kyle began to weave his way through the

crush of people toward the back room. Teague did a walk-through at ten, twelve, and two --
you could set your watch by his punctuality -- and Kyle planned to be there when the other
man showed up.

He pushed aside the curtain of chains separating the illustrious back room from the

main floor and stepped into the dimly lit corridor. The stout tang of semen and sweat hung
in the air, a hint of something almost coppery under the stronger scents. The wet slap of
flesh and hoarse male groans echoed through the passage.

Tiny booths lined each side of hallway, each cubicle with its own large viewing

window from approximately waist height up to the eight-foot ceilings. Crimson velveteen
drapes shielded the glass, on the off chance that whoever used them wanted privacy. He
seemed to be the only club member who preferred to keep his sexual activities private.

Within the tight confines of his jeans, Kyle’s dick twitched and began to swell in

anticipation. He stepped inside, his eyesight gradually adjusting to the change in light.
Although he had planned to walk to the end of the corridor and wait in one of the last rooms
for Teague, that didn’t mean he couldn’t change his mind and sneak a glimpse of the other
things going on around him. Looking had never hurt anyone, but it did give him some extra
creative ideas for what he and Teague could do during their time together. The man was an
inspiration to Kyle’s libido. While he would be more than satisfied by straight sucking and
fucking, he didn’t think that would hold his lover’s attention for long. Teague owned a sex
club, for God’s sake; there probably wasn’t much he hadn’t seen or done a time or ten. The
last thing Kyle wanted was for him to get bored.

Quick peeks into the first couple of six-by-nine rooms provided glimpses of unknown

couples in different stages of vanilla sex. One man had his female partner pinned to the glass,
the globes of her round buttocks pressing more firmly against the viewing window with
every thrust. Another man stood facing the far wall, his ass pushed out, while his male
partner held his ass cheeks open and noisily slurped at his hole. Neither was anything that
really caught Kyle’s attention.

Secrets and Lies

9

The third room offered up something a little different and he stopped for a moment to

watch the threesome inside. Morbid curiosity kept his feet glued to the floor as two large
bruisers fucked a slight blond man. The twink hung suspended in a sling connected to the
exposed beams in the ceiling, strips of black leather tethered by silver metal rings
crisscrossing his pale body and bracketing his thighs. A blood red ball gag spread his lips
wide, his eyes scrunched tight in pleasure, pain, or a little of both.

More interesting than the tools of their trade, or even each man’s individual appeal,

was the fact that the blond was lifted to the perfect height between his partners’ muscular
bodies, his hips at the perfect angle to accept either of their sizeable pricks inside his ass.
Kyle studied their rhythm as they plowed in and out, the steady cadence of back and forth
that grew faster, rougher with every ragged inhalation. The measure of their thrusts seemed
like a dance, one pulling out while the other squeezed inside, the timing behind each lunge
impeccable.

Kyle considered what it must feel like for the man in the middle, to be surrounded by

all that hot, silky skin rubbing over every inch of his body while his lovers held him captive.
His ass cheeks clenched just thinking about it. On the other hand, being one of the men
doing the fucking, squeezing into that hot, tight hole… That sounded pretty fucking good,
too. His dick jerked inside his Levi’s with the intense desire to find out.

Would a threesome be something Teague was into? He’d have to think on that one a

little more before suggesting it. It was an interesting thought, but sometimes fantasy didn’t
play out well in reality. He knew that better than anyone.

The blond moaned around his gag, a shudder running through his slender body, as he

came in what Kyle imagined would be the first of many orgasms before his partners were
finished with him.

He tore himself away from the trio and continued down the hall, ignoring the other

rooms and occupants in favor of finding an empty one to await Teague. Watching was fun,
but it only went so far.

Kyle rubbed the heel of his hand over the stiff outline of his cock and winced. The

metal teeth of the zipper bit into his flesh, chafing the delicate skin of his shaft. If he didn’t
get some relief soon he was going to have permanent track marks up and down his dick. He
shuddered. If he wanted to decorate his prick, he’d wear a cock ring or get a piercing. Scars
didn’t bear thinking on.

After locating an empty room at the end of the hall, he slipped inside and pulled the

drapes shut behind him. Kyle quickly undressed and folded his clothes, laying them in a neat
pile in one corner of the bare room.

Naked save for white cotton ankle socks, Kyle leaned against the back wall and took his

cock in hand, loosely stroking its rigid length to full thickness. Soft skin shifted over the hard
inner core, the friction barely enough to tease. His eyelids drooped, imagining what would
happen once Teague arrived. Looking forward to it.

10

Amanda Young

The faint sound of chains rattling at the end of the hall filled the air with a musical

tinkling. Kyle stiffened in anticipation. There was no guarantee the person entering the back
room was Teague, but Kyle felt certain it was.

He glanced down at his watch, squinting in the dim light. One minute after twelve.

Right on time

.

Schooling his respiration into slow and even breaths, Kyle tried to calm the pulse

thundering in his ears. He didn’t want to appear too eager, even if it was the only thing he’d
been able to think about all week. Showing any expectation -- when their meetings were
supposed to be fun and noncommittal -- would be akin to the kiss of death for their non-
relationship.

No more than five or six minutes passed before heavy footsteps clattered directly

outside the booth. The curtain rustled and slid back with a quiet whoosh, revealing Teague
in all his divine glory. A snug black T-shirt hugged his broad chest and lean torso; the short
sleeves cupped the muscular contours of his biceps. Leather pants clung to trim hips and
long, athletic thighs. As nice as the legs were, it was the impressive bulge between them that
made Kyle’s mouth water. He knew precisely what lay beneath the butter soft leather and
couldn’t wait to get his hands or his mouth around it. The salty-sweet ambrosia of Teague’s
skin was as addictive as methamphetamine, and Kyle couldn’t wait for another taste.

Kyle lifted his eyes and met Teague’s gaze from across the room. Teague still stood in

the doorway, casually braced over the threshold. He regarded Kyle with a neutral expression,
his dark eyes betraying not a hint of what was on his mind. “Back for more, are you?”

Kyle smiled in spite of the brisk greeting. “You know it.” He forced himself not to take

offense at what Teague said. The man seemed overly wary of being too nice, as if a few kind
words were the equivalent of exchanging a vow of everlasting love. “I can’t seem to get my
fill of you. I’m addicted to your sweet cock. Think I could find a suitable twelve step program
for that?”

Teague let the drapes fall closed behind him and stalked across the room toward Kyle.

The fluid, innate grace of his approach made Kyle’s heart race in excitement. Teague stopped
a hairbreadth away from Kyle and rubbed the tip of one forefinger along his collarbone. “I
might, but why would you want to go to all that trouble when I’m right here to soothe away
your craving?”

His lips brushed Kyle’s shoulder and then moved up his throat, hot puffs of breath

washing over Kyle’s skin in humid clouds. One hand skimmed down the middle of Kyle’s
chest, raising goose bumps in its wake, and fell to the thick wreath of chestnut hair above his
cock. Teague tugged on the curls, a wicked gleam in his eyes. Kyle jerked at the stiff bite of
pain, and then stifled a moan as Teague wrapped his hand around the thick base of Kyle’s
prick and stroked from base to tip.

“Nice. I like it when you’re all ready for me. Set to blast off as soon as I touch you.”

Teague stroked upward and squeezed the swollen crown. “Fucking hot, boy.”

Secrets and Lies

11

Kyle’s head fell back against the wall. He pressed his shoulders against the cool cement

and rocked his hips into Teague’s touch, pushing his cock through the tight, hot fist stroking
him. He didn’t know what it was about Teague calling him “boy” that tripped his triggers,
but it made him hard enough to pound tenpenny nails into the cement wall. It could have
been the gruff, no-nonsense cast to Teague’s deep voice or the endearment itself; Kyle didn’t
care which. It just fucking turned him on.

Teague let go of Kyle’s dick and lowered his attention to Kyle’s balls. He fondled and

rolled them with a rough palm, then sank his teeth into the fragile skin at the base of Kyle’s
throat and bit down. Kyle bucked, his pelvis pushing forward in search of lost friction. “Fuck,
Teague, that hurt.”

Teague dropped his hand and stepped back. “You complaining?”

Kyle came up off the wall and reached for Teague, his hand going to the hem of

Teague’s shirt and tugging on it. “No. I’m not complaining. Just saying is all.”

Teague swatted Kyle’s hand away. He gripped the hem of his shirt and pulled it up and

over his head, revealing a smooth expanse of washboard abs and puckered, copper tinted
nipples. The shirt dropped to the floor, forgotten, as Teague’s sinewy arms returned to his
sides, his firm pecs flexing.

Kyle licked his lips and swallowed down a moan. Teague was a beautiful bastard. Every

creamy inch of skin toned and flawless. His palms itched to touch, but he knew better.
Teague always wanted to put on a show, strip right down to his skin before they played, and
Kyle wasn’t about to interrupt. Not when he was anxious to see the rest.

Teague’s nimble fingers unlaced the thin black strips of leather binding him into his

pants. The waistband loosened but remained in place as he turned and bent to untie his
boots, giving Kyle one hell of a view of his tight ass as he wiggled and swayed to keep his
balance.

Kyle reached out, unable to resist the lure of that ass, and ran his fingers over one taut

cheek. He tried to give it a little pinch, but the damn fabric was too tight. The leather was
smooth and warm to the touch, heated by Teague’s sexy body underneath the fabric.
Teague’s back arched, not unlike a cat looking for a scratch, and Kyle obliged the silent
request, running both of his palms up Teague’s back to the other man’s shoulders. He
kneaded the tense muscle there, as Teague stood up straight and kicked off his boots.

Teague turned in his arms and shimmied, working his pants down and over his hips.

Kyle’s gaze dropped, landing on his lover’s thick, uncut cock as it appeared from the opening
in his pants. Long and beautiful, Teague’s dick was a work of art. The weeping tip of a deep,
rose colored crown peeked from within soft, retracted foreskin. The shaft was long and thick,
a bevy of prominent blue veins circling the girth, pulsing with life and vitality. Another
wiggle and his heavy sac was revealed, smooth and hairless, his balls hard as stone inside the
soft, wrinkled pouch.

12

Amanda Young

Kyle dropped to his knees to help Teague the rest of the way out of his pants. He was

rushing things along and knew it, but he felt desperate to touch and taste his lover. Desperate
to feel Teague’s body pressed against his, that thick cock barreling into him, thrusting fast
and hard, stretching him to his limits. Teague would just have to forgive him for fucking up
the prelude. He wanted it bad, and now. Niceties weren’t a necessity tonight. He tugged on
the bottom, working one pant leg off as Teague hopped on one foot.

Before they could get to the other, Kyle’s hand was around Teague’s dick, his mouth on

Teague’s balls, lapping at the smooth, soft skin in long, slow swipes, loving how the silky skin
wrinkled and drew up under his tongue. He gripped Teague’s thighs, holding onto him, as he
pulled one and then the other ball into his mouth, gently sucking and releasing, tugging at
the fragile sac with his lips.

Teague’s hands carded through his hair, hips pushing at Kyle’s face. His cock pulsed in

Kyle’s hand. Kyle gave it a single, hard stroke and was rewarded by the sound of Teague’s
grunt from above. He worked his tongue between Teague’s balls, pressing hard against the
base of his dick where it disappeared into his body through the smooth skin. He licked and
laved every inch of flesh he could reach, moving behind Teague’s balls to the smooth patch
of skin between his balls and ass. There he sucked and nipped, not hard enough to raise a
mark, but enough for Teague to know he was there, and flicked his tongue over the portal
behind. The muscles in Teague’s thighs clenched; the grip on Kyle’s hair tightened. Teague
bent at the waist, his body curled around Kyle. He grasped Kyle under the arms and pulled
him away from his prize.

Kyle swayed. Teague was there to steady him, holding onto him tight as he pressed his

back against the wall, cool cement behind him and hot, warm muscled body against his
chest. Kyle was far from short at just a touch over six feet, but his head butted up underneath
Teague’s chin, cheek in perfect alignment with the base of his lover’s throat. He kissed and
tongued the hollow there, tasting bitter salt and hot skin. Caught the smell of clean sweat
and musk, the intrinsic scent of his lover’s body in full rut.

He shifted his hips, pushing their groins together, two hard cocks slipping and sliding

on the slickness of their desire. The friction was divine torture, not enough, never enough.
He wanted more. Kyle slipped his hand between their bodies and wrapped his fingers around
their pricks, fisting what he could and stroked.

Teague groaned and pressed in tighter against him. “Fuck. Want you.”

Kyle grunted, unable to form coherent words, and stroked harder. He rocked his hips,

one hand around their cocks while he used the other to squeeze a firm cheek of Teague’s hot
ass. Kyle shut his eyes as his balls drew up, snuggling tight to the base of his dick. He didn’t
want to come, not this fast, not this soon, but there was no stopping it. Not when he was so
fucking close to oblivion. One more good thrust and squeeze and…

Teague jerked away, dislodging his grip from their cocks. Strong hands gripped Kyle by

the shoulders and flipped him around. He reached out with both hands, palms landing on the

Secrets and Lies

13

cool wall. Teague pressed against him, the heat from his body warming Kyle’s back even as
the cement wall cooled his chest, making him shiver and thrust his hips back, trying to keep
his cock from the chill. Spit slick fingers speared into the cleft of his ass, zeroing in on his
pucker, and ringed it with moisture. He gasped, goose bumps popping up on his chest and
arms.

He heard a stifled noise and realized with a touch of mortification that it was him. He’d

actually fucking

whimpered

. Couldn’t stop the noises as another popped from his mouth and

echoed. It would have been mortifying if he’d been able to think past the climax boiling just
under the surface of his skin, raging in his balls to burst free. Being with Teague was like
trying to lasso the wind. The man made him want, made him

need

, like nothing else on

earth. That was no shitting. He couldn’t think, couldn’t concentrate on anything but the man
behind him, the thick fingers barreling into his ass, burning so good he wanted to laugh and
cry at once. Move away and closer, all at the same time.

Hot breath puffed over the side of his neck, followed by the flat of a moist tongue

licking at his skin. The sensuous touch continued up, stopping beneath the hollow of his ear.
Sharp teeth nipped at the lobe. “Gonna fuck you so hard. Right through the damn wall.” Foil
ripped, the sound loud in the quiet. “Tell me you want me. Say it.”

“I want you. Need you. Fuck me.”

Teague moved, rolling on the condom. “Beg, and I’ll let you have it.”

“Fuck you.” He wasn’t begging. He wouldn’t.

Teague wrapped an arm around Kyle’s waist. His hand latched onto Kyle’s dick and

pumped in slow, hard strokes. He squeezed right under the crown, milking precum from the
tip. “Come on, boy. Just one little ‘please,’ and I’ll give it to you. I’ll fuck you so good, you’ll
feel me inside you all week.” The thick shaft of Teague’s cock slid between Kyle’s cheeks, the
lubed latex making it glide easy over his skin.

Teague pressed in, exerting the barest amount of pressure against his hole, and Kyle

caved. “Do it. Fuck me.

Please

. Now.”

The hand on his cock let go. The sweltering heat against his back disappeared, cool air

splashing over his damp, overheated flesh. The bell of Teague’s dick nudged his hole, and
Kyle sucked in a breath, bracing himself for that first sharp bite of pain before the pleasure.

A hand tightened around one of his hips, holding him steady. The pressure increased.

He bore down, gritting his teeth to keep from calling out, and felt the thick crown pop
through. Kyle’s hole spasmed and burned around the invader, stretching to accommodate the
monster cock being forced ruthlessly inside him.

His mind shut down; his libido took over. He pushed backward and spread his thighs

wider, coaxing his body into flowering open for the man pumping away inside him. Kyle
grunted, his head falling forward, and dropped one hand to pump his cock in time with the
hard shaft lunging into his ass.

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Amanda Young

Teague growled and pulled Kyle back against him, their sweat soaked bodies rubbing

together. He reached down and swatted Kyle’s hand away from his prick, fisting it himself
and stroking, squeezing just right. The grip around his waist tightened, Teague’s angle
shifting just so, and the cock inside him glanced off his prostate. Liquid lightning in a fucking
bottle. Kyle moaned, ass clenching around Teague, and threw his hips back harder, helping
impale himself until he felt the itchy scratch of crinkly pubic hair against the crease of his
ass. The tight ring of his anus stretched wide, burning around the base of his lover’s cock.

Teague slid back, half his cock sliding free, and then thrust deep, pushing Kyle forward,

his cheek scraping against the rough wall. “Oh, fuck yeah. Take it, boy. Give me all you got.
Sexy fucker.”

Kyle grunted, rocking between the hand on his dick and the cock in his ass. “

Oh God,

harder

. Fuck me, Teague.”

The force behind Teague’s thrusts grew choppy and out of tempo, pushing into him

with short, snappy jabs. Kyle felt the dick inside him swell and pulse, expanding as his lover
neared climax. Teague’s grip on Kyle’s cock tightened to just this side of being painful and
picked up speed. He groaned, the sound vibrating down his body and straight into Kyle. “Oh,
hell yeah. Close, baby. Come with me. I’m gonna… ” His pelvis rocked and pulled back scant
inches, shoving back into Kyle. His hips circled, cock dancing, as he pounded into Kyle.

Teague’s cock pushed deep and hit Kyle’s prostate. Tension coiled at the base of his

dick and released, sending white-hot sparks up his shaft. His balls knotted up, their sac
pulling tight and contracting. His dick pulsed and jerked in Teague’s fist. Cum exploded
outward in hot, liquid ribbons as Kyle’s channel clenched around Teague’s prick.

Teague grunted and cried out, his hips making unsteady little pumps as he filled the

condom inside Kyle. Barely a heartbeat passed before he pulled his softening cock from Kyle
and flipped him around, his arms wrapping around Kyle’s waist and tugging him close.

Lost in the moment, Kyle lifted his chin, lips seeking those of his lover. At the last

second, their breath mingling, Teague turned his face. Kyle’s lips grazed Teague’s cheek
instead of his lips, the stubble abrading his mouth.

The stark reminder of who and what they were to each other was driven home in the

one hurtful move.

Teague stepped away and bent to pick up his clothes. Silence stretched between them,

odd grunts and cries from men in the rooms surrounding theirs drifting in every few seconds
to punctuate the air. Kyle’s mind was a chaotic tangle of thoughts, one in particular standing
out bright and shiny in front of the rest. He watched his lover dress, a sharp ache beneath his
ribs, and knew this would be the last time he visited Club Oasis.

Sex, no matter how mind-blowing, was not enough.

Secrets and Lies

15

Chapter Three

Teague’s tension was running on high. The atmosphere in the club was more robust

than usual due to the arrival of Victor Manning and his entourage. They prowled through
the club as if they owned it and everyone inside, their conceit only outweighed by their
inflated sense of self-importance. Although the humans didn’t realize who they were
fraternizing with, the majority of them seemed to be able to sniff out power from a mile
away and flock to it.

A hollow chorus of need flooded Teague’s body; a craving left unsatisfied, clawing for

sustenance. It seemed as if it’d been a month of Sundays since he’d gotten off by means of
anything other than his left hand. Although, in all truth, it’d only been three weeks. Exactly
twenty-one days without sex -- which had to be a personal record -- and nary a one of the
willing bodies around him caught his attention for longer than it took to blink. None of them
seemed good enough when compared to the choice piece of ass he’d let get away. Instead of
finding a new toy to play with, he’d settled for his hand and thoughts of Kyle.

The pretty fucker

.

Teague had known Kyle was hurt by his refusal to kiss him, but he hadn’t expected the

other man to disappear. The asshole had even let his club membership expire. He wasn’t sure
what the big deal was about kissing, but apparently his reluctance to do it had been a deal
breaker. Which was just as well, really, since Teague would’ve needed to make a clean break
with him soon anyhow. Sex with Kyle was fan-fucking-tastic, but his self-imposed rule about
never screwing anyone more than a handful of times was there for a good reason. Repeated
encounters only bred a familiarity he couldn’t afford.

Teague had his choice of boys to play with -- women too, if he was inclined to swing

that way. For some damn reason, he found himself unintentionally comparing other men to
Kyle and ultimately found them lacking, which was fucked up in more ways than he wanted

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Amanda Young

to count. He had no business getting mixed up with anyone, much less a nosy, emotionally
driven human. Kyle may have been a sweet piece of ass, but Teague didn’t need the headache
he represented. He would just have to get over his morbid fascination with the other man
and find someone else to scratch his itch.

Out of the corner of his eye, Teague saw something fall from the balcony above,

though it dropped so fast he couldn’t make out what it was. It clattered to the floor, causing
the crowd to hoot and holler. He glanced up, toward the second level where the private VIP
rooms were located and spotted a slim, young brunette hanging over the railing. She was
laughing and dangled a single black, spike-heel shoe from her fingertips. Assuming it was the
other shoe she’d dropped, Teague shook his head and kept moving. He didn’t know who the
woman was, or who she belonged to, but the upstairs rooms were reserved for the power
behind the city -- humans and creatures alike -- and he wasn’t about to step on any of their
toes by scolding the woman for something so harmless.

He turned his attention to the spiral staircase and spotted Victor nearing the top, with

his right hand man, Sid, trailing along behind him. Teague repressed the urge to roll his eyes
at what Victor was wearing. The other man seemed to take perverse pleasure in dressing like
a thug from the full black leather trench coat and shit-kicker boots to the hissing viper tattoo
coiled around his bald scalp. The image would have been more authentic if Victor weighed
more than a buck-ten. For all his reported viciousness, the man was a scrawny little twerp. It
was no wonder he kept himself surrounded by bodyguards.

Teague watched as the men trotted up the stairs toward the woman waiting above, and

then transferred his attention to her. He wasn’t sure what Victor saw in her. Although she
was attractive enough, with a buxom figure and a beautiful cocoa complexion, it was
common knowledge that Victor preferred male lovers. That only left one other option for
why he was headed upstairs as far as Teague could see.

Feeding time

.

Teague’s mouth watered in envy. What he wouldn’t give for a taste of hot, fresh, and

salty blood. Unlike the Nightfeeder subspecies, he and his brother weren’t forced to live off
blood, but they needed to supplement their diet with it. As natural born Daywalkers, he and
Cadge required the blood to replace the heme their bodies failed to produce. A vital
component of red blood cells, heme was responsible for binding iron and transporting
oxygen. Without it, they would die a slow and painful death of asphyxiation. The bagged shit
tasted like dirt, but it gave them what they needed to survive and was safer than taking from
humans. There was no chance of miscalculating and making a mistake.

Sacrifice breeds character, as his father used to say. He figured that was probably true

to some extent, but after ninety years on Earth he’d like to know when the character
building stopped and the fun began. Sometimes being a responsible adult blew hairy monkey
balls.

Secrets and Lies

17

Through narrowed eyes, Teague scanned the room. He spotted a familiar face on the

outer edge of the dance floor, surrounded by a gaggle of hangers-on. He did a double take to
make sure the man was who he thought he was and then headed in that direction. Seeing a
true friend among the crowd was like a sweet benediction. Everyone always claimed to be a
pal, but then they usually wanted something from him -- whether it was free admission to
the club or hookups for sex and drugs. There was hardly anyone he felt able to talk to
without having to watch his p’s and q’s. Redmond Taylor, however, was one of the select few
he could be himself around.

As always, Red had impeccable timing. As long as this was a friendly visit it would be

just the distraction Teague needed to take his mind off more troublesome concerns. A
genuine smile spread across Teague’s face as he made headway through the mob. It’d been
just over a year since he’d last spoken to Red, and he was looking forward to shooting the
shit with him, even if they couldn’t speak openly with all the nosy eyes and ears around
them.

He finally caught Red’s eye as he approached the outer perimeter of the group. His

friend grinned and winked at him before pushing away from the wall he was leaning against.
He began to extricate himself from the pack, making apologies and promising to return.

Apparently, Red was as popular as ever.

It’s good to see some things never change

.

Teague stood in place and watched as his friend approached with all the stealth of a

graceful gazelle. He barely managed to hold in the snort of derision that comparison brought
about.

Gazelle, my ass

. Red might have looked the part, with his overly long, curly auburn

hair and boy-next-door good looks, but underneath that innocent exterior lay the mind of a
serial killer and the sharp wit of foulmouthed sailor.

Oh, the trouble they’d gotten into, once upon a time

.

Red finally reached Teague, only a few of the most obstinate boys hanging onto him,

and smacked Teague on the shoulder. “Good to see you, Teague. The club’s looking
prosperous as ever.”

Teague nodded. “You know it.”

“Everything looks good.” Red lifted a bottle of Corona to his lips and took a sip. “You

and Cadge seem to be doing well here.”

Translation: Don’t fuck it up this time

.

Teague shrugged. It had been Red’s suggestion that they return to the States, Pittsburgh

in particular, after the death of Cadge’s lover five years earlier. He’d been instrumental in
helping them set things up with as little fuss as possible. Thanks to his position inside the
council of immortal beings, Red had been able to break into the mainframe years earlier and
create an elaborate false record of Teague’s and Cadge’s bloodlines. Upon the their latest
relocation, Red had once again tinkered with their records and added the necessary licensing
required for them to open a council sanctioned business, thus ensuring their welcome from
Victor Manning, a council member and the current overlord of Pittsburgh. It wasn’t

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Amanda Young

anything they couldn’t have arranged on their own, but Red’s ability to cut through all the
red tape saved them from having to answer too many questions about their lineage.

“So what brings you to my neck of the woods, Red? I’d have thought you’d be off jet-

setting around the world.”

Translation: Are you here on business?

Red made his living by working as a regulator for the council, taking care of all the

things they didn’t want to soil their hands with. Him being there on business could mean
things were about to get interesting in Pittsburgh. Possibly a little too interesting.

Red’s green eyes sparkled with mischief. “You know me, all work and no play.”

Shit

. Teague scratched his temple, silently passing on a request for more info later. Red

nodded in response. His friend probably wouldn’t be able to tell him much, but Teague
figured he could at least count on some indication about whether or not there would be any
potential fallout for him and Cadge. That was all he really cared about anyway. It had been
him and Cadge against the world for so long that little else mattered.

“Where’s Cadge tonight?” Red asked. “I was looking forward to seeing him.”

“He’s in his usual spot.”

Cloistered in his apartment above the club - hiding from the

world, the same as he’d been doing since Adrian’s death

.

-

“I wouldn’t mind seeing him. It’s been too long since we last talked.”

“Sure. I can take you up later tonight, if you’re planning to stick around.” Curiosity

tempted Teague to forget about his work schedule and lead Red upstairs right then, but there
was no way he could leave the club while Victor and his goons were there. Lord knew what
kind of hell would break out in his absence.

Whatever it was that had brought Red by, Teague sincerely hoped he wasn’t going to

try and talk Cadge into stepping forward and claiming his birthright again. That only led to
his brother retreating further into his shell, something Cadge couldn’t afford at this point. He
was already so reclusive he barely talked to Teague on a daily basis.

“I’ll be here, whenever you’re ready to call it a night.”

“Aw, but Red,” the boy hanging onto one of Red’s arm whined, drawling out Red’s

name like it had three syllables, “you said we were gonna…”

Red hushed him with a stern look. “Hush now. I know what I said. I’ll have my

chauffeur drive you to my hotel and meet you there later, after I’m finished.”

The blonde smiled and shut up, practically vibrating where he stood. With Red being

second thing to a brother, Teague didn’t want to guess what his friend had promised to make
the boy bounce that way.

Midnight arrived, ending any hope of a conversation. Glittering disco balls lowered and

the overhead lights dimmed. The already loud music kicked up a few additional decibels,
loud enough to rattle the windows if there’d been any on the main floor of the club. Teague
winced, the noise making his head pound and his shitty mood worsen. There would be no

Secrets and Lies

19

talking to Red now, not without screaming at each other, and that was out of the question.
Besides, he had a job to do that took precedence over socializing.

He mouthed the word “later” at Red and broke away, heading toward the back. In a

Pavlovian response he hadn’t yet figured out how to curb, Teague’s dick perked up at the
thought of doing his midnight walk through the back room. Apparently his cock wasn’t
smart enough to catch on to the fact that his Saturday happy endings were a thing of the
past.

Teague stifled a groan and balled his hands into fists, digging his short fingernails into

the meaty flesh of his palms. The small bite of pain helped his hard-on flag, though the damn
thing refused to go all the way down. He didn’t know when he’d stop popping wood every
time he walked into the back room, but he hoped it was soon. A man could only jerk off so
many times in the restroom before someone noticed what he was doing. It was pathetic
really; a grown man whacking off over a memory when he could snap his fingers and have
his choice of available fuck buddies. What he needed to do was forget about Kyle and move
on. Unfortunately, that seemed easier said than done.

The wide sea of partygoers parted for him, as easily as a hot knife through melted

butter. The patrons of Club Oasis seemed to accept the inspections he did at face value, his
little assurance that the facility would stay a safe and consensual environment for people to
indulge in their desires. Nothing problematic had happened inside the club for over three
months, and Teague planned to keep things going that way. He didn’t enjoy having to play
big brother to their clientele, but it was part of the job. As much as he disliked laying out
rules, running a fetish club couldn’t be all booze and wild fucking. Someone had to be in
charge and make sure things continued to run smoothly.

The thrill he’d taken in being that person dwindled more with each passing night. He

watched new members come and go, some of them only there for a short time, while others
hung around and wound up locked in a dangerous downward spiral of drugs and sex -- the
same people who pushed their limits beyond human endurance and ended up withered
husks of their former selves. Being an inanimate bystander, not able to shake sense into
people before it was too late, was fucking depressing.

Teague approached the back room, his thoughts scattered. Someone bumped into him

from behind and pinched his ass. He swore and whipped around, ready to tear someone a
new asshole, only to find one of his bartenders grinning up at him.

Billy, with his slender build and elfin features, gave him a wink. “Want some company

for the walkthrough, boss?”

“Not bloody likely,” Teague grunted, but inside he was smiling. All of his staff flirted

with him from time to time, but Billy was the worst of the lot. The kid was always trying to
talk him into something naughty. While the boy was undeniably cute, he was also barely
twenty-one -- a little too young and naïve for Teague’s tastes.

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Amanda Young

Billy licked his lips, making a long, drawn out process of it. “Okay, but I bet I could

turn that frown of yours upside down in less time than it takes you to say ‘suck me.’ You
don’t know what you’re missing, boss.”

“As much as I appreciate the offer, I’ll have to pass.”

“Can’t blame a boy for trying.” Billy ran his fingertips down Teague’s forearm. “The

offer stands, if you decide you want to play.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Teague said, watching Billy swagger toward the bar with an

exaggerated sway of his narrow ass.

Amused, he continued on to his original destination. The sooner he finished his walk-

through, the sooner he could get back out on the main floor and keep an eye on things. If he
was lucky, Victor and the goons would leave soon, and he would be able to corner Red for
the scoop on why he was there.

He ambled along the back corridor, stopping to glance through viewing windows and

pop his head into the rooms that had the drapes pulled closed. A couple inside the third room
on the right tried to coerce him into joining them, but he declined, not even tempted by
their buff bodies and swollen cocks. The men -- he tried to recall their names and failed --
were new to the club and considered special inductees.

Both blond and in their early twenties, the duo were handpicked and recruited by

Victor. It was a little odd that he would allow the neophytes out to play on their own so soon
after their transitions, but it didn’t really surprise Teague. Victor was notorious for having a
short attention span. Teague supposed the shine had already worn off these two.

He peeked into a couple more rooms without seeing anything out of the way. He did,

however, pause to watch a towheaded bodybuilder fist a slender brunette man. The way the
man’s thick wrist disappeared inside the brunette’s hole, stretching it impossibly wide, was
entertaining but didn’t really do much for him. Hell, it was a little hard to shock someone
who’d been sexually active for over seventy years and co-owned a sex club for five of them.
It took more than a pretty face and a nice ass to get him hard. He needed something more,
someone different than the kind of men normally at his disposal.

Someone like

…

Teague shook his head and shut down his thoughts before they took shape. He turned

away from the fisting and glanced into the viewing window across the hall, saw three men
lying on the floor in a daisy chain, sucking each other off, and then moved on.

His dick began to fill, the swollen shaft pressing up hard against the soft lining of his

leather pants as he neared the end of the hall. He sighed in annoyance and gave his dick a
thump, wincing at the brief flash of pain.

Not tonight, buddy

.

He approached the last stall -- the one his mind automatically thought of as his and

Kyle’s, whether he wanted to or not -- and noticed that it was occupied. The thick curtain
had been haphazardly pulled closed, leaving an open gap in the middle. The side of a man’s

Secrets and Lies

21

face pressed against the glass. Light blond hair, longer on the top and shorn on the sides and
back, obscured the guy’s features, but allowed Teague a glimpse of a square chin and firm
lips, the lower one fuller than the top, kiss swollen and glistening with moisture.

Teague’s face chilled, and his gut clenched.

No. That was not Kyle in there screwing

someone else in their room

.

His hands curled into fists, the nails biting into his palms, as he rushed forward with

every intention of busting someone’s fucking head.

The chains at the other end of the hall rattled. “Yo, boss man! We got a problem out

here.”

An overwhelming urge to attack besieged Teague. His gums tingled and receded, his

incisors lengthening as whipped his head around to snarl at the man calling for him. At the
last second, common sense overrode blind rage. Teague closed his eyes and sucked in a much
needed gulp of oxygen. He cursed under his breath and counted to ten, willing his body into
submission.

Opening his eyes, he shot a disgruntled glance toward Joe, one of his bouncers, who

stood at the threshold into the back room, his wide shoulders blocking the entrance. “I’ll be
there in a second.”

Teague glanced back at the stall, every muscle in his body tense with the desire to rush

forward and stake a claim on what was his. This time around the man’s face was turned his
way, and upon closer examination, Teague realized it wasn’t Kyle inside the room. Other
than a similar hairstyle and bone structure, the other man didn’t even resemble Kyle. His
eyes were too widely spaced apart, his nose a little too pointed.

“We really need your help out here, boss,” Joe yelled down the corridor, his voice

bouncing off the walls.

Teague blew out a disgusted breath of air. The rush of adrenaline he’d felt seconds

before crashed and burned, leaving a nauseous pit where his stomach was supposed to be.
What the hell was he doing? Even if that man had been Kyle, he was allowed to fuck
whomever he wanted. It was none of Teague’s business. They weren’t even sleeping together
anymore.

He sighed and turned to Joe. “I’m coming.” It was just as well that Kyle had walked

away from him. Nothing could come of their relationship, no matter how much he was
beginning to wish otherwise.

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Amanda Young

Chapter Four

Teague followed Joe onto the main floor and glanced around, scouting for trouble.

What he found was the same environment he’d left minutes earlier. Furrowing his brows in
confusion, he looked at Joe and leaned closer to be heard over the music. “I thought you said
there was a problem?”

Joe nodded and shifted his gaze toward the second floor, where the private rooms were

housed. The only person authorized to be up there that night was Victor, though that didn’t
mean he hadn’t allowed half his entourage to accompany him.

“Shit,” Teague muttered, smoothing a hand over the lower half of his face. He waved

his hand in front of him, urging Joe to lead the way. As they climbed the stairs, the sharp
metallic scent of blood overpowered the stench of smoke, booze, and the various
commingled scents of human body odor from below. Reaching the landing, Teague held his
hand up and halted Joe. “Has anyone else been up here?”

“Just me, boss. I came up here to clean up after the others left.”

“Good,” Teague said with a nod. “I’d like to keep it that way. Wait here, and don’t let

anyone through.”

“Sure, boss,” Joe said. “No problem.”

Teague stepped around Joe, confident in his employee’s ability to perform the task he’d

been assigned, and followed his nose toward the room reserved for Victor.

A pungent bouquet of blood and bodily waste hit his nose as he opened the door. The

residual odor of fear clouded the air, foretelling the story of what had happened better than
the image his eyes was registering. He swallowed, fighting the urge to gag, as his gaze
combed the room. Streaks of crimson stained the wall behind the king-sized bed and pooled
on the hardwood floor at its foot. The woman he’d seen earlier was lying on her stomach, her
upper body hanging over the edge of the bed closest to the door. Dark tendrils of hair

Secrets and Lies

23

cloaked her face and skirted the floor, exposing the mauled flesh of her nape. One hand was
extended toward the door, the tips of her nails submerged in a pool of blood continually fed
by a sluggish drip from the edge of the cream colored bedspread.

Sweet Jesus

.

Another scene and a different body flashed before his eyes, making past and present

blur. He had to shake his head to stop the older crime scene from superimposing over this
one. Though there were similarities -- the same room, a body draped over the end of the
bed -- this one was more brutal. Whereas there’d been hope for the last victim he’d
discovered, there was none for this poor soul.

Although he realized the futility of his actions, Teague crossed the room and laid his

fingers over what was left of the woman’s throat. Blood oozed from the gaping wounds and
covered his fingers as he searched for a nonexistent pulse

Whoever had done this -- and there was little doubt in his mind as to that person’s

identity -- had led her here with every intention of killing her. This time, he couldn’t delude
himself into believing he’d discovered a feeding gone wrong.

He pulled his stained fingers away from her neck and wiped the blood off on the

ruined comforter. Staring down at the woman, he couldn’t help but wonder who she was.
Was she someone’s daughter or mother? Who would miss her when she never came home?

“There’s no helping this one, my friend.”

Teague lifted his head, somehow not surprised to find Red standing in the doorway.

He’d given orders not to let anyone pass -- knew Joe wouldn’t intentionally disobey him --
but Red wasn’t a man to be denied. Even Joe, a mere babe among the Nightfeeders, would
know better than to say to no one of the council’s main regulators.

“This one?” he asked, already guessing that Red was onto him -- probably already

aware of what he’d done three months earlier.

“Mm hmm. I’m well aware of the last mess you cleaned up for Victor, and the

ramifications, thanks to your tender heart. The only thing I haven’t been able to figure out is
the lad’s name.”

“You and me both, buddy. I never knew what it was.” Not exactly the truth, but what

he did know would fit into a thimble. He tried to subtly change the subject. “What
ramifications? It’s just one more Nightfeeder in a mass of others.” Teague sighed as he gained
his feet and stepped away from the carnage. “How the hell did you figure out I was the one
responsible? I didn’t even tell Cadge.”

Red shrugged. “That’s not important.”

“The hell it’s not. I’d like to know --”

“Later,” Red interrupted. “There are too many eyes and ears in this place. Right now,

you need to seal this room until I can deal with the body.”

24

Amanda Young

“No, I need to find Victor and his men. See if they have an explanation for what

happened here.”

Red shook his head. “They’re long gone. It was the stink of blood on them as they left

and your hasty jaunt up the stairs that clued me in to a problem.”

And here he’d thought he was being discreet. “That obvious, huh?”

“No worries; I don’t think anyone else noticed.”

“Well, thank God for small favors.” As if finding a dead body wasn’t bad enough.

Red stepped out of the room and hovered in the doorway. “Come out of there. There’s

nothing you can do to help her now.”

That was the rub of it right there. He felt like it was his job to protect the people who

frequented his club and he’d failed this girl. He’d seen her before she’d entered the room --
knew there was going to be feeding -- and hadn’t made a single move to prevent it from
happening. As far as his conscience was concerned, he may as well have drained her himself.

“What about Victor? He and his men did this.”

“Can you prove it?”

“No, but this is the room he uses. I know he’s responsible.”

“He’s also a member of the council. Without ironclad proof, he’s pretty much

untouchable, buddy.”

“Someone has to pay for this.” Teague looked at Red. “They can’t get away with it --

not again.”

“The guilty party will be punished. You have my word on it. We just have to prove

who that is first. Slinging accusations around at powerful people isn’t going to help.”

Teague cast a final compassionate glance at the young woman splayed out over the bed,

and exited the room, locking up behind him. He joined Red on the terrace overlooking the
club, disheartened as he watched the party downstairs continue, his patrons blissfully
ignorant of the tragedy that had happened in their midst.

Although he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the answer, he had to ask, “What’s going to

happen to her now?”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll take care of the body.” Red laid a hand on Teague’s

shoulder in support. “Come on. We’re long overdue for a chat. What do you say we take this
upstairs to your private quarters and have Cadge join us? He needs to be informed of what’s
going on here, especially if you haven’t shared what you’ve already done with him.”

Teague sighed and contemplated how pissy his brother was going to be at having

unexpected company.

Oh, well. Fuck it

. Cadge would just have to get over it this once; it

wasn’t as if there weren’t extenuating circumstances. “Just let me leave some parting
instructions for my staff and we’ll go up.”

Secrets and Lies

25

He may have been glad Red was there -- a part of him relieved at the offer of

assistance -- but that didn’t mean he was looking forward to the discussion to come.

* * * * *

A sharp rap on the door tried to pull Cadge’s attention away from the near illegible

signature on the bottom of the sheet he was studying with a magnifying glass. He ignored it
and angled the glass in an effort to make out the faint traces of faded ink.

Was that a V or a

U?

The knock came again, hard enough this time to shake the doorframe. Cadge jerked his

head up and stared at the door, trying to will whoever it was -- Teague most likely -- to go
the hell away. He was sick of his little brother always trying to drag him into the club
downstairs. As if he’d want to spend even a second of his time surrounded by imbeciles who
got off on flaunting their promiscuity and drinking themselves into an early grave. It was
enough to make him wonder what the world was coming to when people had enough time
and money to spend it so frivolously. Why, he could remember when…

The knock came again, along with Teague’s voice, echoing through the think wood.

“Come on, Cadge. Open up. I know you can hear me.”

“Go away,” he shouted in return. “I’m busy.”

He’d just started to think Teague was going to leave him alone when the scrape of the

spare key fitting into the lock reached his ears.

Goddamn it

. Cadge stood and strode across

the room, making it halfway to door before it opened and Teague waltzed in.

“I think I asked you to go away, not to let yourself in using the extra key you had made

behind my back.”

“How else am I supposed to look after you?” Teague asked in exasperation.

“I don’t need you to check up on me. You’re not our mother.”

“No.” Teague shook his head, his spiky black hair not moving from all the chemicals he

piled in it. “I’m not. She would’ve kicked your ass and dragged you out of your cubbyhole by
the ear a long time ago. Hell, you apparently don’t even feel the need to get dressed anymore.
What’s up with that?”

Cadge looked down at his blue boxers and white ankle socks and shrugged. “Why

should I bother? It’s not like I’m going out. This is fine.”

“It certainly looks fine from where I’m standing.” A deep voice spoke from behind

Teague.

Cadge’s heart skipped a beat as Red stepped around his brother. His gaze ate up the

other man from head to toe. The tempting sight was enough to make his dormant cock take
notice and fill against his will. “What are you doing here?” he snapped, more harshly than
he’d intended.

26

Amanda Young

Apparently undaunted by the less than cordial greeting, Red smirked and extended one

long fingered hand as if they were nothing more than old acquaintances. “It’s good to see you
too, Cadge.”

Cadge took Red’s hand and squeezed, letting go of the warm, dry flesh almost before

he’d finished the up and down motion of a complete shake. “Have you come to join in
Teague’s attempt to turn me into a club boy, or are you here on business?”

“Business unfortunately,” Red replied, his icy green gaze holding Cadge hostage. “There

are some things we need to discuss. Now.”

Red’s commanding tone chafed at Cadge, but it would be quicker just to give in and

listen to what he had to say than argue. “Fine. Have a seat. The sooner you say what you
came for, the sooner I can get back to what I was doing.”

Cadge waited for Red to sit before moving to do the same. He parked his butt on the

opposite side of the suede couch and shot Teague a disgruntled glare. Hearing another lecture
about socializing sounded preferable to this. Who knew what kind of news Red planned to
share. Cadge doubted the man was there to commend them on their lovely ability to blend in
with the riffraff.

“So…” Cadge looked from Red to Teague, who sat across from them. “What’s going

on?”

“Before I say anything, I think your brother has something he needs to tell you. Don’t

you, Teague?”

“Yeah, I suppose so.” Teague swallowed and fidgeted in the chair, reminding Cadge of

when his little brother had been in trouble as a kid. “Before you get pissy, just let me say I
only did it because I had no other choice. I --”

“Stop.” Cadge held up his hand, stopping Teague from rambling on and on. “Just spit it

out. I don’t have all night.”

“I saved someone’s life about three months ago -- a man I found bleeding out in Victor

Manning’s room. He was dying, and I had to make a snap decision. So I chose to make him a
Nightfeeder rather than let him die.”

“You did

what

?” Cadge would’ve sworn he could feel his blood pressure rising, his face

getting hot as blood rushed to his cheeks in anger. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?
Not only have you pitched whomever the poor sod is into a purgatory of eternal darkness,
but you’ve put us both at risk as well. If someone finds out what we are…”

Red cleared his throat loudly. “Sorry to interrupt your tirade before you really get it

going, but it’s a little worse than you think. All moral objectivity aside, what Teague has
done is give a predator the extra boost he needed to wreak havoc on the population. The man
Teague brought over couldn’t have been wholly human to being with. Honestly, I’m not
quite sure what he is now.”

Secrets and Lies

27

“Of course he was human. I’m not stupid, you know. I can tell the difference between a

human and a creature.”

Red snorted. “Obviously not.”

Cadge shook his head and willed it not to explode. He’d tried to curb his temper where

Teague was concerned, but his patience was running short. “I know you like to think of
yourself as a big man, but you don’t know shit, kiddo. Mother and Father coddled you as a
child and after they were killed, I took care of you. You’ve never had to hunt, never had to
do more than suck from a bag for your nourishment, much less learn to differentiate the
blood of other species.”

Teague scowled and opened his mouth to retort. Red cut him off. “Take it easy. It’s not

entirely Teague’s fault. Well, it’s his fault for interfering, but not for the other. Neither of
you have gone through the kind of training I have. If I can’t ferret out what he is, no one
can.”

“Save us the high and mighty routine, Red. We’ve all heard about your training and

your position with the council. Spare us the recap. The fact of the matter is Teague fucked
up.”

“Excuse me,” Teague spat. “I am not the screwup you think I am, asshole. I run this

club without your help and do a damn fine job of it, if I do say so myself.”

“A club for deviants and perverts.” Cadge snorted. “Wouldn’t Mother be proud?”

“Fuck you, Cadge. At least I haven’t turned into a glorified hermit whose lover offed

himself to get away from me.”

The mention of Adrian caused a sharp lance of pain to slice through Cadge’s chest. He

was off the couch and on top of Teague before he even gave his muscles the order to move.
Teague’s mumbled apology fell on deaf ears as Cadge wrapped his fingers around his
brother’s neck. “You should thank God you’re my brother. It’s the only thing keeping me
from wringing your neck until your eyes pop out of your head.”

A strong hand latched into the back of Cadge’s hair and tugged. “That’s about enough,”

Red said. “Do you think the two of you can act like adults? The juvenile bickering and
fighting is cute for about five seconds before it grows annoying.”

“Suck it, jackass.” Cadge yanked his head away from Red, ignoring the sting of his hair

being pulled out by the roots. He climbed off Teague and moved back to the couch. “No one
asked you to stick your snooty nose in our business. If you don’t want to be around us, you
can take your ass back to the council headquarters and stay there.”

“Shit, Cadge,” Teague croaked, his fingers rubbing the deep red fingerprints around his

throat. “I think you bruised my windpipe.”

“Be thankful that’s all I did.”

“I said I was sorry. I don’t know why I said that. I didn’t mean it. Except you do need to

get out more --”

28

Amanda Young

“I wouldn’t push your luck right now.” Cadge sighed, his anger deflating like an

overfilled balloon. He wanted to stay pissed, almost felt like he should out of spite, but he
didn’t have it in him to hold a grudge against Teague. His brother was all the family he had
left.

“Well,” Red drawled. “Now that that’s settled, how about we discuss the problem at

hand?”

“Yeah, all right.” Cadge rubbed his hand over his face and tried not to let Red’s bossy

attitude rub him the wrong way. Everything seemed to aggravate him lately. His anger
boiled over at the slightest provocation. The only thing that soothed him was work -- the
hunt to find the person or persons responsible for murdering his parents. Guilt gnawed at
him for putting it off this long, for letting life get in the way of a son’s duty to reap
vengeance. Each day that passed without results added to the bonfire of his conscience. He
was so close to figuring things out, he could taste the bittersweet tang of vengeance on the
tip of his tongue. And then there were days like this -- when it felt like the entire world was
conspiring against him.

“What I’d like to know is how you found out at all,” Teague said. “It’s not like I took

out an ad in the Sunday paper telling everyone what I did. And I made damn sure no one
saw me when I dropped off the body right after sunrise. I disguised myself well and
transported him in a stolen car just to be on the safe side.”

“You went out in the daylight? Are you fucking suicidal? If someone had seen you they

would’ve known right away that we aren’t like them. You could’ve blown our cover all too
hell.”

“I’m not an imbecile, Cadge. Besides, don’t you think we would have felt the

repercussions by now if someone had been able to identify me?”

Cadge repressed the urge to growl. The little jackass had gone behind his back and

done something stupid and then hadn’t even had the foresight to warm him just in case the
shit hit the fan. Maybe he needed to put a leash on his little brother. Who needed to worry
about enemies when you had a bumbling sibling around? So what if he’d been trying to save
someone’s life? His do-gooding could easily have gotten them both killed.

“Let it go, Cadge. It’s over and done with.” Red turned to Teague. “As far as how I

could tell you were the one who sired him -- I had tests run on the traces of saliva and skin
he left behind on the corpses. Your bloodline, human DNA, and another genetic codes were
identified. If I had to wager a guess, I’d say we have some kind of hybrid on our hands,
which is why the council sent me in to investigate. Because they’re under the assumption
that all of the Daywalkers are gone, they want me to bring him in alive so they can study
him. The council is excited about the discovery. They believe if they can identify and
separate the genetic markers they may be able to recreate the original race.

Your

race.”

Teague sat forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. “What are we talking about

here -- cloning?”

Secrets and Lies

29

“Basically, yes.”

“But wouldn’t that just give them half of what they need?” Teague looked at Cadge. “I

mean, they would still need to find a female of our kind in order to have an egg to fertilize.
Right?”

Cadge shook his head. “No. It doesn’t work that way. Basically, they would take several

donor eggs and strip them of the nucleus, which contains all the female’s genetic material.
Then they would isolate and collected cells from the man, strip them of the unwanted
genetic markers, and create a new nucleus with the complete genetic characteristics they
desire. Theoretically, it’s possible.”

“Exactly. If they accomplish this, they’d be able to breathe new life into the race,

without creating a legion of Nightfeeders who are nothing more than a poor man’s copy of
the forebearer’s genes.”

“How can you talk like that? You’re a Nightfeeder, and you’re not a poor substitute of

anyone. You’re…you.” Teague threw up his hands. “Shit, you know what I mean.”

“I know what you’re trying to say, and I appreciate it, but you know as well as I do that

Nightfeeders are a shoddy substitute of what nature intended. We may have inherited your
strengths but we also have all of your weaknesses, ramped up to the nth degree. Your puny
allergies for sunlight, silver, and jade actually kill us. I’m not trying to put myself or anyone
else down when I claim Nightfeeders are a lesser subspecies. It’s just the way things are. The
only reason Victor Manning was elected to join the council was because there had to be
some voice for the vampire species -- even if the vote came from a Nightfeeder rather than a
Daywalker. Which is another reason, besides the cloning, that I’d like to suggest you both
finally come forward and claim your birthright. If you were ever planning to take your
father’s seat on the council, now’s the time to do it. Much longer and it may not be there for
you.”

“I don’t think so,” Cadge said. “From what you say, we’d only be volunteering ourselves

to being treated like guinea pigs, and that’s not even taking into consideration the risk we’d
be putting ourselves in. You know they’ve never figured out who was behind all the
assassinations of our kind. The conspirators could still be out there. No, until I’m able to
track down and eliminate the threat, claiming our spot on the council would just be suicide.”

“You wouldn’t be treated like a guinea pig, Cadge. They’re just desperate to find a link

to the past. More than likely, you’d both be treated like royalty. If that doesn’t change your
mind, think of all the resources you’d have at your disposal to further your investigation into
your parent’s murder.”

“If the council has so many resources, why haven’t they already figured out who was

behind the massacre?”

“For the same reason you haven’t. Solving current problems and keeping the peace

trumps working on cold cases. The council is at the helm of a lot more species than just yours
my friend, each of them with their own trials and tribulations.”

30

Amanda Young

Cadge was silent as he considered Red’s offer. With more resources, he could delegate

some of the menial tasks that took so long. That would free a lot more time for him to track
down leads and follow up on others he hadn’t had a chance to explore.

“How about we agree to disagree and move on?” Tempting though it was, Cadge didn’t

think it was a good idea. He didn’t care what happened to him anymore, but he couldn’t
chance putting Teague at risk for nothing more than Red’s speculation. He wasn’t going to be
responsible for the death of another loved one.

“Fine,” Red said. “In the meantime, I need to use your club as a base of sorts to keep an

eye on Victor and his boys. I have a couple of men coming into town to help in a few days,
and I’d like to station one of them here as a bouncer. I noticed you only have the one on
staff, so hiring another shouldn’t look out of the ordinary.”

Teague scowled. “Are you asking or ordering?”

“This is council business,” Red replied. “For that reason, I’m not giving you a choice.

The sooner we can get this resolved, the sooner I’ll get out of your hair and things can go
back to normal.”

Cadge wondered what Red’s definition of normal was. Surely, it couldn’t be their

lifestyle.

Teague rolled his eyes. “Whatever. You can put your man on the staff, but he better be

a damn good actor. If he isn’t able to pull his weight, my employees will know something is
off. I’d like to try and keep things as copasetic around here as possible.”

“Not a problem,” Red said. “I only work with the best.”

“It’s such a shame you’re so humble. You should really try to work on that self-

confidence problem.” Teague glanced at his watch and stood. “There’s somewhere else I need
to be right now. We can pick this conversation up tomorrow.”

“Can’t it wait? I doubt there’s something you have to do that’s more pressing than this.”

Knowing his brother, Teague probably had a piece of ass waiting for him downstairs. This
was more urgent than getting his rocks off with a horny groupie.

“Someone has to run the club, you know. I’ll see you both later, and you can catch me

up on what’s going on.” Teague shifted his attention to Red. “If you could stop by or call
tomorrow evening, maybe we could talk more then.”

“No problem. I’ll catch up with you sometime tomorrow,” Red said amicably -- a little

too politely from Cadge’s point of view. It wasn’t like the other man to agree so easily when
it interfered with what he was trying to do. Red was not a patient man; he never had been.

As soon as the door clicked shut behind Teague, Red scooted closer to Cadge on the

sofa. Spicy cologne and the lingering scent of smoke from the club wafted off the other man’s
skin and shot directly to the pleasure center of Cadge’s brain, reminding how damn long it
had been since he’d been close enough to

smell

anyone. Guilt pinged at his conscience -- the

Secrets and Lies

31

promise he’d made to love Adrian forever echoing in his ears as if the vow had just crossed
his lips.

Cadge slid over against the sofa arm and regarded Red with suspicion. “Okay, spill it.

You let him out of here without giving him any shit about leaving before you were ready.
What gives?”

“I want you to keep an eye on Teague. There’s something he isn’t telling us.”

Cadge sighed and ran a hand through his hair, pushing the thick black strands away

from his face. “Well, shit.”

32

Amanda Young

Chapter Five

Teague’s mind raced ahead of him as he barreled down three flights of stairs. The

irrational fear that Kyle could be in danger gnawed at him like a festering wound. After
listening to Red’s suspicions, Teague no longer felt so certain that Kyle’s abrupt departure
was due to lack of interest in him. He could be wrong -- he hoped he was -- but the margin
of coincidence was too high. If he was fine, Teague would leave him alone and be able to rest
at ease, but if something had happened to Kyle, he would never forgive himself.

Unlike what he’d told Red and Cadge, he knew the identity of the man he’d sired.

Telling Red would be a moot point. Not that there hadn’t been other reasons for his silence.
His motives for saving the man hadn’t been entirely altruistic.

If he’d been doing his duty to the club members and protecting their interests, the

attack wouldn’t have happened. Similar to what had happened with the woman, he’d been
too preoccupied by what his dick wanted to notice something was off.

On that night, three months past, his attention had been on a new member -- Kyle.

The knowledge that Kyle had joined with someone else hadn’t stopped Teague from
cornering him alone and hitting on him. While he’d put the makes on Kyle, the man’s
boyfriend had been upstairs having the life slowly drained from his body.

Kyle believed his boyfriend, Darren Bernard, had simply found someone else and left

him, but nothing could be further from the truth. Teague’s guilty conscience had made him
intervene and save Darren, but nothing short of a miracle would return his humanity.

According to Red, Darren wasn’t only a Nightfeeder, but some sort freakish hybrid

who’d killed several people. Teague had a hard time believing that as docile as Darren had
seemed from afar. It was rare, but there had been cases of humans going feral as a direct
response to the vampirism virus being introduced into the system. To Teague, it seemed

Secrets and Lies

33

much more plausible that Darren had gone mad, rather than he was some sort of monster,
regardless of what Red’s lab tests said to the contrary.

He slipped through the hidden entrance at the back of the storeroom, wound around

crates of liquor and unrefrigerated bar food in the dark, and walked out into the jumping
atmosphere of the club.

Teague winced as the deafening music hit him with the force of a sledgehammer,

almost loud enough to drown out the inner monologue running through his head. The
decibel level seemed even higher than before, if that was possible.

The party had continued in his absence; all the revelers blissfully ignorant of what had

happened right above their heads -- not that he’d expected any different. Humans really
were blind to things they didn’t want to see. It was how creatures had managed to blend in
since the dawn of time, with only the occasional slight to cover up.

Sometimes he had to wonder whether or not the ignorant weren’t really the lucky

ones. He imagined it would be so much easier to walk through life with his head in the
clouds.

His gaze combed the large room -- over dancers grinding against each other and

couples around the fringes with their minds and hands on more serious pursuits -- and
locked onto Joe talking to a skinny Native American girl wearing a body hugging red latex
dress with strategically placed cutouts throughout the fabric. A beautiful cascade of
shimmering ebony hair hung down her back and caressed the gentle swell of her ass.

Teague set off across the room toward Joe. As he approached, he watched Joe whisper

something in a woman’s ear that made her cheeks color and her dark eyes widen. He almost
felt bad for pulling Joe away, but it couldn’t be helped. Joe would just have to get a phone
number and catch up with her later. Someone had to oversee the club while he was out.
Thankfully, it was almost closing time anyway.

Once he got close enough to be heard over the racket, Teague yelled Joe’s name. Joe

turned his head, spotted Teague standing a few feet away, and excused himself from the
woman. Teague nodded his head toward the exit and turned, with Joe following close behind
him.

He waited until they were outside, in the brisk night air, before speaking in hushed

tones. “Something’s come up. I need you to keep an eye on things and supervise closing.”

“Whatever you need, boss.” Joe’s stoic expression said he was willing to help, if none

too happy about it. “Everything okay?”

“Fine.” As much as could be expected with a dead woman upstairs and a lover who may

or may not have been abducted. “There’s just something I have to take care of.” Impatience
thrummed through his veins, urging him to hurry. “If anything comes up, you can reach me
on my cell.”

34

Amanda Young

Joe nodded as Teague brushed past him, his mind already occupied by the drive ahead.

He crossed the dark asphalt lot to his waiting Harley and straddled it, enjoying the loud
rumble of the engine and resulting vibration between his legs after he turned over the key.
He toed the kickstand up and sent the bike soaring out onto the highway.

He arrived sooner than he’d expected and parked against the curb in front of a row of

similar buildings. From what he could remember about Kyle’s membership application, his
former lover owned some kind of business, but the residence where he lived didn’t scream
money. It was composed of nondescript red brick and glass, the same as all the others nearby.
Something about that confirmed his impression of Kyle. The man may have had dough, but
he didn’t flash it around trying to impress people. Teague liked that.

Because he didn’t like to feel boxed in, Teague bypassed the elevator and took the

stairs. In no time, he was standing outside Kyle’s door with his fist raised and ready to knock.
A case of nerves made him second-guess himself.

It’s late. Kyle’s probably in bed. What if he

isn’t alone? What if he isn’t here, or isn’t able to come to the door?

The last notion had his knuckles meeting the thick wooden door in loud bursts. He

waited, but nothing happened. The thought of Kyle being inside, hurt and unable to reach
the door, or worse, weighed on him like a ton of bricks. His fingers itched to reach into his
pocket and make use of his Swiss Army knife. It wouldn’t take much to let himself into the
apartment and have a look around. If Kyle was there, asleep or something, he could leave
and Kyle would be none the wiser. On the other hand, if Kyle was hurt or, God forbid, dead,
at least Teague would be the one to find him.

There was no scent of death -- a pungent aroma he had no doubt would spill out into

the hallway regardless of the thick door -- but that could have been covered easily enough
with a chemical agent. There was just no way for him to know for sure without entering the
apartment.

I’ll just go in and check it out. If Kyle’s just a sound sleeper, I’ll turn around and leave,

no harm done

.

A few turns of his pocketknife and the rickety lock on the door clicked over. The knob

turned underneath Teague’s palm. All was quiet as he stepped into the darkened entryway of
Kyle’s home and looked around. The layout was fairly simple and open. A tiled foyer led into
a large living room. Behind the living room was an open kitchen, the two rooms divided by a
long, ceramic countertop that was cluttered with mail, a wicker bowl filled with different
kinds of fruit, and a coffeemaker.

The living room contained a matching leather couch and chair, an entertainment

center with a large flat screen TV, a stereo, and a plethora of CDs and DVDs. Against the far
wall sat a computer desk and a desktop computer, the screensaver casting a muted blue glow
over the area directly around it.

Secrets and Lies

35

Teague whipped around to his left as a door he hadn’t noticed between the

entertainment center and the desk opened. Kyle stumbled over the threshold, naked as the
day is long, and in the process of belting a ratty looking, blue terrycloth robe around him.

Kyle stalled in front of the sofa, his eyes widening as he spotted Teague standing just

inside the door. “Teague? Was that you knocking on the door? Wait a minute--” He shook
his head, as if shrugging off the last vestiges of sleep. “How did you get in here?”

A staggering rush of relief swamped Teague and knocked any spur of the moment

excuse he might have been able to come up with right out of his head. Instead of focusing on
something to excuse breaking into Kyle’s apartment, his attention was on the other man’s
body. Kyle was alive and well, and the only thing standing between Teague and every single
inch of Kyle’s succulent, bare skin was a worn terrycloth robe. His gaze ate up Kyle’s long,
lean muscled torso, the sharp jut of his hip bones above a soft, but slowly thickening shaft
and plump, low hanging balls.

“I… I…” A flash of heat raced to Teague’s dick and banished any remaining thought

processes he might have been able to conjure. He sucked in a sharp breath of air as his dick
hardened and pushed up against the rough inner lining of his jeans.

Running on pure emotion, he rushed forward and pulled Kyle into his arms, hugging

him tightly.

“What are you doing?” Kyle wiggled, struggling to break free. “Damn it, Teague, let go

of me and tell me what you’re doing here.”

“I needed to see you,” Teague said, knowing at least that much was true. He hadn’t

realized just how much he’d missed the other man until right that moment, with the warm
scent of Kyle’s skin wafting under his nose and the feel of Kyle’s firm, supple muscles under
his hands. Nothing had ever felt as good.

“That isn’t good enough,” Kyle muttered, rubbing his cheek against Teague’s sternum.

“You shouldn’t be here. I quit coming to the club for a reason.”

Kyle’s arms wound around Teague’s waist, contradicting his plea for Teague to let him

go. That was all Teague needed to feel justified in taking what he wanted.

He tightened his grip on Kyle and did the only thing he could to put an end to the

questions. He gripped Kyle by the shoulder with one hand, used the other to tilt his chin up,
and crushed his mouth over Kyle’s, silencing the other man with a heartfelt kiss he’d never
before dared to take. The risks of such a move were immense, but he was willing to chance
revealing himself for what he was if it meant he got to hold Kyle for just a moment longer --
anything to keep Kyle from sending him away.

Unable to lower his eyelids and risk missing a single expression on Kyle’s face, Teague

watched his lover’s eyes widen. Kyle stared up at Teague in awe, and then he finally relaxed
and allowed his eyes to drift closed. He pressed in closer, rubbing against Teague. With a
sigh, he melted in Teague’s arms.

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The soft material of Kyle’s robe bunched under Teague’s hands. Through their joined

lips, he felt the steady thump of Kyle’s pulse growing stronger, his blood pumping faster.
Teague’s body quickened as well, in response to more than the need to strip Kyle and take
pleasure in his body. His canines itched with the desire to lower and sink into warm and
willing flesh, to mark Kyle and claim him for more than a single night.

Only through sheer force of will did Teague control his baser instincts. He didn’t

deserve to be with him -- hadn’t even spoken to the other man in almost a month -- but he
wanted to be with Kyle too much to give up and walk away. Yearning for a human was
foolish, but he couldn’t help himself. Even though their association couldn’t go anywhere,
Teague felt an irresistible allure to Kyle. The human was everything Teague wasn’t. A beacon
good for a creature whose soul was weary and jaded.

While they kissed, he worked open the tie of Kyle’s robe and pushed it off his

shoulders. The terrycloth fell to the floor, baring Kyle to Teague’s hungry gaze. He took a
short step back, unwilling to move far, and soaked up the masculine contours of Kyle’s
body -- the silken skin roughened to masculine perfection by a smattering of downy, golden
blonde hair. Kyle’s lanky frame was lean, his limbs lightly defined by sinew. Rather than the
gym enhanced bodies Teague saw so often at the club, Kyle’s form was long and graceful,
loose limbed as a newborn colt, but all mouthwateringly male.

Kyle fidgeted. “Why are you here, Teague? What do you want from me?”

“You. I only want you.” Teague met his lover’s shocked gaze and skimmed the back of

his fingers over the flat expanse of Kyle’s stomach, down the nearly invisible silky line of
hair beneath his bellybutton. “Is that so hard to believe?”

Kyle shrugged and tilted his head. If anything, the compliment seemed to make him

more uneasy. “I’m skinny,” he said, gripping the hem of Teague’s T-shirt. “You’re the one
who’s sexy.” He pulled the material up, exposing Teague’s abs, and rubbed the clearly
delineated ridges of muscle. “All these muscles -- every one of them begging to be stroked
and licked.”

Teague’s pulse galloped at the suggestion, his dick damn near trying to pop through his

jeans in anticipation of being on the receiving end of Kyle’s suggestion. “What’s stopping
you?”

Kyle grinned and the expression lit up his features; twin dimples framed the corners of

his mouth. He released Teague’s shirt and slid two fingers beneath the waistband, tugging
Teague forward. Tilting his head back to make up for their height difference, Kyle gazed up
at Teague. “One of us is wearing too many clothes.”

“I can fix that.” Teague bent and crushed his mouth down over Kyle’s, hungering for

the other man’s lips now that he’d had a taste, while he worked open the clasp of his pants
and toed off his shoes. The soft cushion of Kyle’s mouth beneath his own urged Teague to
hurry. The slick tip of Kyle’s tongue prodded Teague to accept an entry he couldn’t allow. He
promptly pulled away then gave in to the temptation and accepted the slick appendage in his

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37

mouth, felt it moving against his own tongue in an intimate dance he’d never dared indulge
in for fear of exposing his true nature.

He moved back and covered the abrupt maneuver by yanking his shirt over his head,

heedlessly dropping it to the floor in his anxiousness to feel Kyle’s skin against his own. He
shoved his jeans down and stepped out of them, showing Kyle all he had to offer.

The desire he saw reflected in Kyle’s heavy lidded gaze made Teague want to preen. He

flexed his muscles, showing off for his lover, and was rewarded by the slow flush of longing
that spread across Kyle’s chest. The rose hue of Kyle’s prick deepened, the bulbous crown
glistening at the tip.

He may not have been able to risk allowing Kyle’s tongue into his mouth, but there

was something else he could taste without fear of Kyle discovering the anomaly of his teeth.
His canines were normal at the moment, as blunt as any human’s, but with desire came the
loss of his ability to hold back the fangs yearning to lower and sink into his lover’s supple
flesh during the height of pleasure -- something he had yet to share with anyone.

As many times as they’d been together, it was difficult to believe he’d never gone down

on Kyle. He planned to rectify that in short order. All the other encounters they’d shared
had been rushed, hasty couplings in the dark. This time he wanted to savor Kyle, to touch
and taste everything the other man was willing to share with him.

Teague grabbed Kyle by the hand and pulled him over toward the sofa, where he gave

him a light shove and pushed him down onto the seat. With a snort of laughter, Kyle toppled
over and plopped down on the sofa cushions. “You don’t have to be so forceful. If you want
me to blow you, all you have to do is ask.” Smiling, he made a grab for Teague’s hips.

Teague sidestepped the hands and dropped to his knees between Kyle’s legs. Scooting

forward, he walked his fingers up the inside of Kyle’s thighs. The hair was sparser on the
inside, the skin more delicate as it approached Kyle’s groin. He cupped Kyle’s balls in his
palm and rolled them, loving the feel of the soft, warm flesh. Kyle shivered, and Teague felt
like king of the world.

Leaning forward, he nuzzled the golden wreath of curls at the base of Kyle’s cock. The

springy curls tickled his nose as he inhaled the musky scent of his lover.

Kyle jerked away from him. “What are you doing?”

Teague glanced up at Kyle, whose shocked expression would have been laughable if he

weren’t so painfully aroused. “What do you think I’m going to do?”

“B…but…” Kyle stuttered. “You don’t suck.”

“Says who?” Had he really been so selfish that Kyle believed he wouldn’t reciprocate at

all?

God, I really am an asshole

. “Of course, I suck dick. If you’d quit fighting me, I’d prove it

by sucking yours. I’ll even promise not to bite.” Teague grinned at his own bad joke, wishing
Kyle knew enough about him to catch his poor attempt at vampire humor.

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What would it be like to have that kind of honesty with someone? To have someone so

treasured he could share all of himself with them without fear of persecution.

He pushed that impossible thought away and ran his palms down the top of Kyle’s

thighs, trying to soothe him. The muscle corded under his touch, bunching and releasing. He
brushed the pads of his thumbs over the baby soft flesh of Kyle’s balls and watched the
delicate flesh wrinkle then lift.

There was a tiny line, shades lighter than the surrounding flesh, running up the middle

of Kyle’s sac. That thin discoloration called to him, begged him to trace it with his tongue,
and Teague saw no reason to deny himself. Using the tip of his tongue, he laved Kyle’s balls
from the bottom up. The closer he came to the base of Kyle’s shaft, the more his lover
squirmed and pushed his hips upward in small, circular thrusts.

Instead of giving Kyle what he wanted, Teague backtracked. He sucked the plump orb

of one ball into his mouth and repeatedly flicked it with his tongue, thoroughly wetting it
down before he released it and moved to the other.

Kyle wiggled, panting. “Fuck, Teague, stop. I’m going to come if you keep that up.”

Teague released the ball in his mouth and grinned at Kyle. “So, go ahead. I have every

confidence in your ability to get it back up for me.” He gripped Kyle’s thighs, pulled his ass
further toward the edge of the couch, and went back to the pleasurable task at hand,
bypassing Kyle’s balls in favor of the tender strip of skin directly behind them.

“Jesus,” Kyle moaned, bucking his hips. “

Oh, God, yes

!” His body stiffened, and the

rich scent of cum perfumed the air.

Moving quickly, Teague covered the head of Kyle’s cock with his lips and sucked,

taking spurt after spurt into his mouth. Kyle’s thighs trembled, his breath hitching while
Teague pulled Kyle’s essence into his mouth, savoring the bittersweet elixir as it rolled over
his tongue.

Before Kyle had the chance to do more than shiver and shake, Teague caught his

lover’s hips and turned him over, unwilling to chance having sex face to face. A careful kiss
or two was one thing, but taking a chance on Kyle’s seeing his fangs was too much.

“Teague?” Kyle glanced back over his shoulder. “What--”

His voice broke off on a groan as Teague spread Kyle’s cheeks and went down on him,

wetting Kyle’s ass with the cum he still had in his mouth. He used his thumbs to stretch open
the small, pink entrance and stabbed his tongue inside, coating Kyle’s hole. The tight,
clenched ring of muscle began to dilate and flower open for him. Finally, the edge of his
tongue slipped into Kyle’s channel, the moist inner lining clutching at it. He retreated and
then forced in a little more, slowly tongue fucking Kyle and loosening him up.

The rising aroma of Kyle’s skin, flushed with desire, and the musk of sweat drove

Teague closer and closer to the edge of reason. He was so ready he could practically feel the
slick walls of Kyle’s ass already gripping his dick. Although he wanted this night to be

Secrets and Lies

39

something Kyle always remembered, he didn’t know how much longer he could wait. He
wanted to be buried balls deep inside Kyle’s tight little ass before he lost control.

Teague slid two spit slick fingers into Kyle’s ass and licked the straining flesh around

them as he shoved all the way in. He slipped his other hand down to stroke Kyle’s still hard
cock. Kyle moaned and bucked, thrusting his dick through the tunnel of Teague’s fist and
then pushed back against the fingers Teague had buried in his ass. The firm mounds of Kyle’s
ass flexed, twin dimples appearing at the side of each cheek.

“Fuck, I love your ass,” Teague growled. “I just want to take a bite out of it.”

“Do it, then.” Kyle glanced over his shoulder at Teague with wild blue eyes. “Bite me,

spank me, fuck me, just do

something

. Right now.”

“Bossy,” Teague said, silently thrilled that Kyle’s impatience matched his own.

Unwilling to tease either of them any further, Teague pulled his fingers free and knelt

between Kyle’s legs. He pressed his groin against Kyle’s firm ass cheeks and let his lover feel
how hard he was, how much he wanted the other man.

He grabbed Kyle’s hip with one hand and fisted the base of his own cock with the

other, lining the fat crown up to Kyle’s entrance. The difference in girth was staggering; his
cock looked three times as wide as the little hole he planned to squeeze into. Applying
pressure, Teague forced the crown of his dick inside the sweltering inferno of Kyle’s channel.
He groaned, inflamed by the sight of Kyle’s hole stretched obscenely wide around the thick
circumference of his shaft.

He knew he should give Kyle the option of finding a condom, but he couldn’t bring

himself to stop long enough to broach the subject. Being able to feel Kyle’s tight heat
surrounding him instead of latex felt too damn good, and it wasn’t as if he could transmit
human diseases. Kyle’s health was safe.

Kyle grunted and tensed up, the muscles in his back bunching. Teague allowed him a

second to get used to the feel of his dick and then eased in further. Little by little, his prick
disappeared inside Kyle’s body until his groin was pressed tight against Kyle’s ass. The snug,
clenching heat was enough to make Teague grit his teeth, fighting off the urge to move fast
and hard, to lunge into Kyle’s body with every ounce of strength he had and fuck his way to
paradise.

Instead, he kept up the slow invasion, grinding against Kyle more than thrusting, and

leaned forward to wrap his upper body around Kyle’s. He pressed a kiss then two more
between Kyle’s shoulder blades, licking the salt from his lover’s skin. “You feel so good. So
hot and tight.”

“Oh, God,” Kyle moaned. “So do you. Feel so full.” He lowered his head to the sofa

cushion and wiggled his hips. “Move. Fuck me.”

That was all the encouragement Teague needed. He rose up on his knees and withdrew

his cock until only the crown remained locked inside. Grasping Kyle’s hips, he shoved back

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inside, ground against Kyle’s ass, and then did it all over again. He set up a rhythm of long,
deep strokes, building the friction between them until his teeth ached with the desire to
come. Kyle’s grunts and groans, the way he rocked back to meet every thrust, only made
matters worse.

The sudden overwhelming need to be connected to Kyle by more than the lower

halves of their bodies prompted him to still. Shoving away the urge to bite, he gripped Kyle
under the arms, pulling his lover up so they spooned. He nuzzled the curve where Kyle’s
throat met his shoulder, almost content just to breathe in the scent of his lover’s skin.
Reaching around Kyle’s hip, he fisted the long, slim cock curving upward toward Kyle’s
navel and stroked it in time with the deep, even lunges into Kyle’s ass.

Kyle leaned back and lifted his arms, wrapping them around Teague’s neck. His head

lolled back against Teague’s shoulder, and he turned his face toward Teague’s, peppering the
side of Teague’s face and neck with damp kisses.

All too soon, Teague felt the telltale tingle of impending orgasm building in his balls,

coiling tighter with every thrust. He tried thinking about something else, about inventory at
the bar and accounting, but he couldn’t concentrate on anything except the feel of Kyle in
his arms, their slick bodies rubbing together as he thrust home, over and again. He didn’t
want the pleasure to end, wasn’t ready to lose the closeness of their joined bodies. He
couldn’t help it -- he was going to come. In an effort to bring Kyle with him, he tightened
his grip on Kyle’s dick and stroked faster, squeezing the tip on every upstroke.

“Oh, God,” Kyle moaned, rolling the back of his head against Teague’s shoulder. “Yes!”

Liquid heat spilled over Teague’s hand as the channel around his dick contracted in

rhythmic waves, milking his shaft. He let go of Kyle’s cock and wrapped his arms around the
other man, hugging him as he thrust home and came. One hard spurt followed another in
what felt like a never ending stream of cum, his orgasm going on and on until it felt like his
balls were trying to turn inside out from the rush of near painful pleasure.

When he finished shaking and pulled himself together, the taste of copper filled his

mouth. Shocked and scared that he’d done something unforgivable, he glanced down at
Kyle’s neck and breathed a sigh of relief when all he saw was Kyle’s tanned, unblemished
skin. On further inspection, the blood in his mouth was his own. He must have bitten
himself in the throes of climax.

As gently as he could, he withdrew his softening cock from Kyle’s body. Kyle groaned

and slumped forward, burying his face against one of the sofa cushions. “Christ, I think I
died, that was so good.”

Teague’s attention was focused on the shrinking rosette between Kyle’s cheeks, his dick

once again trying to rouse, as he said, “Well, they don’t call it the little death for nothing.”

What he thought was a snort in response to his comment turned out to be a snore.

Teague moved to Kyle’s side and saw that his lover was in fact asleep, his eyes closed and his
respiration deep and even.

Secrets and Lies

41

Rising to his feet, he stared down at Kyle a minute before hunting for the bathroom.

He cleaned up in the facilities connected to Kyle’s bedroom and then wet a washrag to take
back into the living room with him. He found Kyle exactly as he’d left him, slumped over the
seat of the sofa and softly snuffling. Teague smiled as he cleaned Kyle up and lifted him,
laying him on the couch. After he picked his clothes up off the floor and redressed, he took
the rag back into the bathroom and disposed of it. On his way out of the bedroom, he
grabbed the comforter off the bed.

Back in the living room, Teague smoothed the comforter over Kyle. His chest rose and

fell in measured breaths, golden blond lashes fanned out against the tanned hue of his skin.
Beneath closed lids, Kyle’s eyes moved back and forth, as if he were dreaming. A small smile
tilted the corners of his lush lips.

Teague wished he knew what the other man was seeing. Was he included in Kyle’s

dream, or was someone else in the starring role?

I suppose I’ll never know

.

Watching Kyle sleep awakened a burgeoning warmth in his chest that made him

uncomfortable. He bent and brushed a soft kiss good-bye over the silken strands of Kyle’s
hair, comforted by the knowledge that no one was around to see him do it.

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Chapter Six

Kyle pulled up outside of the long, one-story brick building and parked. He killed the

engine and sat for a moment, not quite ready to get out of the car. The night before was wild
and hot; Teague showing up out of the blue had been a wonderful surprise. Unfortunately,
waking up alone -- with his ass sore and the realization that he’d once again succumbed to
Teague’s charms without learning the first thing about his erstwhile lover -- cast a pallor on
any satisfaction he might have been able to take from their time together.

What he should’ve done was push Teague away and demanded he leave then returned

to bed alone, more than likely spending the rest of the night tossing and turning as he had
for the last three weeks. If it hadn’t been for that one kiss, Kyle felt sure he would’ve been
able to say no. If only Teague hadn’t held him and kissed him as if he truly meant something
to the other man, he would have stood his ground. Now, however, he felt used and
discarded. Another night with the man he craved more than air, and all he’d managed to do
was melt like a moron and have his brains fucked out. That would have been fine, if sex was
all he wanted. His stupid heart yearned for more.

Why can’t I just forget about Teague and move on?

Kyle tore his gaze away from the steering wheel and glanced up to see a man and a

small boy exit the building he was parked in front of. The child was dressed in blue denim
overalls and clung to his father’s hand, swinging it back and forth as they strolled down the
sidewalk. Kyle watched until they disappeared around the corner of the building, a raw ache
of yearning for the children he would probably never have in the pit of his stomach.

Guilt gnawed at him. There he sat, spazzing about his sex life, when he should have

been up walking into the nursing home for his weekly Sunday visit with Mom. He needed to
pull his head out of his ass and get his priorities straight.

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43

He loved his mother, but seeing her so frail and confused, withdrawing further each

week into dementia, tore him up. The vibrant woman who’d raised him, always quick with a
happy smile and eager to live each day to the fullest, was gone, eaten away by the disease
ravaging her mind. All that remained was a pale imitation of her, someone who didn’t even
recognize him more often than not.

Every week he told himself he’d just stay home, she wouldn’t know if he’d been there

either way. Yet he always dragged his ass out of bed. He wasn’t ready to let go of the wish
that some small spark of his mom remained inside, trapped way up high like a princess
locked inside a tower, just waiting to be set free at the right moment. It was a ridiculous
thought -- there was no remission from Alzheimer’s -- but he couldn’t help but hope. It was
all he had left.

After every visit, Kyle wound up feeling like steamrolled shit. Part of him was almost

glad his old man had passed away first, the cancer having claimed him five years earlier, so
that he wasn’t around to see what had become of his wife. His parents had been so close,
their relationship the epitome of everything whole and good. Kyle was sure his pop wouldn’t
have survived seeing what she was going through anyhow. He’d been a tough old bird, but
Sally Drake had been his everything.

With a sigh of resignation, he popped open the door of his Mercedes and climbed out

into the bright, midday sunshine. Rays of heat beat down on his shoulders as he strode up
the cement walkway and entered the building. The same blond receptionist he saw every
week sat behind the front desk. She looked up as he came in, the nail file in her hand
freezing in mid-stroke over her garishly long red nails. She smiled, popped a bubble of pink
gum, and waved him by.

He pushed through the doors to the right side of the lobby and started down the sterile,

white hall. He took a deep breath, the strong smell of antiseptic and cleaner stinging his
nose, and braced himself for what he would see once he reached his mother’s room. The
pungent aroma reminded him of hospitals and sickness, of endless hours spent by his pop’s
bedside while they waited for him to pass away, but at least he could tell the staff here
maintained the facility to the strictest of standards.

Some of the homes he’d visited at the beginning of his search for the right

establishment for his mom were abhorrent. The scent of urine, and only God knew what
else, was repulsive and saddening. Visiting those types of places made him all too aware of
what could happen if someone grew old alone and had no one to care for them. He was
grateful for the ability to provide his mother with the care she needed. Money might not
have been able to buy him happiness, but it was able to do something for someone he cared
about.

Rounding the corner at the end of the hallway, he pulled up short, almost running over

a tiny little slip of a woman dressed in baby blue scrubs. She gasped and jumped back, a dark

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brown ponytail bobbing like a buoy at the crown of her head, seconds before their near
collision. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Drake. I didn’t see you.”

Kyle’s forehead wrinkled. “I’m sorry. Have we met?” She didn’t look familiar, and he

was on a first name basis with most of the staff.

She smiled, the bashful twist of her lips lighting up her elfin features. “Oh, no, we

haven’t, but Sally just goes on and on about what a wonderful son she has. I recognized you
from the picture on her nightstand.”

“And you are…?”

“Sorry.” She blushed and held out her hand. “I’m Marie Vasquez. One of the new CNAs

on day shift. Your mom is one of my patients.”

Kyle accepted her tiny hand into his larger one and shook it lightly. “Nice to meet you,

Marie. How is Mom? Is she having a good day?”

“Well, she’s been dozing most of the morning. She was lucid at breakfast though.”

Please let that still be the case

. “Thanks. It was nice meeting you.”

“You too.” The young nurse sidestepped Kyle and disappeared around the corner.

He continued down the hall and pushed open his mom’s door. His eyes on landed on

the narrow hospital bed in the middle of the room, his mom curled on her side atop it, one
hand bent under her cheek as she slept.

He stood there for a moment, gazing around the room. He’d brought what he could

from home to cheer the place up: her favorite quilt with the cheery pink and blue flowers,
scads of framed, family pictures atop her small dresser -- the glass exchanged out for safer
plastic -- along with a few of her cherished Hummel figurines. The staff had worried about
those being broken or stolen, given their worth, but seeing them made his mother happy.
That’s all he cared about.

Kyle crossed the room and quietly pulled a chair up alongside the bed. He sat and

waited for her to awaken. It was just past noon, so he expected the staff would be in soon
with her lunch. There was no sense in disturbing her right that second. Part of his reason for
not waking her right away was because he feared how she’d act once her eyes opened,
though he refused to acknowledge it.

With each passing week, he felt his mother’s life slipping away, bit by bit. Her

moments of clarity shriveled and dropped like leaves from a tree. It’d been months since he’d
been able to have a real conversation with her. He knew it was only a matter of time until
the disease ravished what was left of her mind, but he wasn’t ready to let go. Wasn’t ready to
lose the last remaining family he had.

Marie entered the room carrying a covered beige tray. She nodded at him and set it

down on the adjustable table against the wall before walking over to the bed on the opposite
side of Kyle. She laid a gentle hand on his mother’s shoulder. “Sally, honey, wake up. It’s
time for lunch, and you have a handsome visitor.”

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45

Kyle’s cheeks heated at the compliment. Attention from the opposite sex had a

tendency to make him uncomfortable. This time was no different. He turned his attention to
his mom, who began to stir on the bed, giving him a good excuse to look away from the
nurse.

“Hey, Momma. How’re you feeling today?”

Her unfocused blue eyes widened, going wild for a moment. She lifted herself up with

a groan and swung her thin legs over the side of the bed. “Oh, Hank! Thank God you’re here.
It feels like years since I’ve seen you. I tried to come home to you, but these people wouldn’t
let me leave.”

Kyle swallowed down the lump in his throat as she reached for him. He leaned

forward, meeting her halfway, and wrapped his arms around her frail body, gently hugging
her. His gaze rose, meeting Marie’s over his mom’s shoulder. She smiled at him, the
expression tinged with sympathy.

His mom’s arms tightened around Kyle’s neck. “Please take me home, Hank. I want to

go ho…home.” Her voice broke as sobs wracked her thin frame.

He never knew what to say when she mistook him for his father. Correcting her only

seemed to agitate her further and going along with her psychosis, pretending to be someone
he wasn’t, made him feel like an ass. This time he took the easy way out and kept quiet. He
rubbed circles over her back and tried to soothe her the best he could.

It was going to be a long day. He hoped like hell that he’d remembered to restock his

supply of Scotch. By the time he got home, he figured he would need it.

* * * * *

Teague stirred on Sunday evening, his shaft sandwiched between him and the bed,

swollen and aching. Lost in the hazy maze between sleep and wakefulness, he shifted his
hips and rubbed his dick against soft, cotton bed sheets. He pressed down, increasing the
sweet friction against his shaft and snuggled his face deeper into the fluffy pillow beneath his
head. Two quick shifts of his hips and heat spread down his back. His balls contracted and
cum fountained from his cock. His ass cheeks clenched and released in time with the spurts
of semen rushing from his body.

With a moan, he flipped over onto his back and grimaced at the sticky feel of cum

clinging to his abdomen. Sadly, the first thought that ran through his mind had nothing to do
with his orgasm or the now forgotten dream that had perpetrated it, but how he needed to
change the damn sheets.

He sighed and then grimaced at the smell of his breath. His mouth tasted like someone

had taken a piss in it.

Time to get up

.

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Amanda Young

He rolled from bed and padded into the adjoining bathroom to relieve his bladder and

brush the funk from his teeth. While he stared at his reflection in the mirror over the sink --
the hair on his head sticking up and a ring of white foam around his mouth dripping down
his chin -- Teague decided he might as well hop into the bath while he was at it.

After a brisk shower that woke him up and made him feel ten times better, he exited

the bathroom with steam billowing out in his wake and entered his walk-in closet. He
flipped through the hangers, unsure of what he wanted to wear, and finally settled on worn
jeans and a snug black T-shirt that molded to his chest and upper arms. Except for a vague
sense of restlessness pulsing under his skin, he felt almost normal.

Dressed, he entered the kitchen and grabbed a cool bag of O negative off the top shelf.

He plucked a coffee cup out of the dishwasher and poured the thick liquid into it, sneering at
the stale, metallic smell. With a sigh of resignation, he popped the cup into the microwave
and set the timer. Just because he was used to bagged blood didn’t mean he had to enjoy it.

Maybe it’s about time I broach the subject of looking into the heme shots again

. He and

Cadge had tried to get their hands on the remedy used to treat porphyria patients years
earlier, but they hadn’t been able to manage it. Porphyria was a milder version of the
vampirism that ran through their lineage. A much tamer adaptation of the virus was
rumored to be the result of a Daywalker mating with a human several generations back and
watering down the gene pool, though no one knew for sure.

Some years back, the council had run the testing on volunteer Nightfeeders and

deemed the treatment useless for them because their bodies required complete transfusions
once their human DNA had been infected. Daywalkers, on the other hand, only needed a
boost to their own system. It was Teague’s belief that heme would work as well for them. Of
course, they wouldn’t know that for sure until they tried it. They couldn’t waltz into a health
clinic and request the blood treatment without arousing a hell of a lot of questions neither of
them wanted to answer.

Standing at the counter, he grabbed an apple and ate it while he waited. He pitched the

core into the garbage can just as the timer went off. He popped open the door and stuck his
finger in the cup, stirring the blood and then heated it up for another thirty seconds. Sucking
the blood from his finger, he tapped his foot on the cool ceramic tile until the buzzer finally
dinged again. One long gulp drained the cup. His hunger sated, he strolled into the living
room and flopped down on the couch.

He picked up the remote, turned on the TV, surfed through all the channels, and

stopped on none. He felt twitchy, as if there was something he should be doing. The club was
closed; he’d already gotten off, showered, and eaten. What else was there?

Out of the corner of his eye, Teague saw his cell phone doing donuts on the end table.

He must have forgotten to switch it over from vibrate to the ring function the night before.
Leaning over, he grabbed his phone, flipped it open and glanced at the caller ID. “Yeah?”

“Where in the hell have you been? I’ve been trying to reach you since last night.”

Secrets and Lies

47

“Good evening to you too, Red. It’s so nice of you to call just to chat.”

“Eat me, asshole. I worry.”

Teague laughed. “I never pegged you as the mothering type, big boy.”

“Shut up, smartass. So, where were you?”

“Here and there,” Teague hedged. “I forgot to turn on my phone’s ringer, so that’s

probably why I didn’t hear it before now. What’s up? You have news to share on what we
were discussing last night?”

“No, there isn’t anything yet, although your little problem upstairs has been taken care

of. I was just trying to get in touch with you to find out if you could provide any insight on
the list of defunct members your brother provided me with. I thought one of the names
might jar your memory about who you sired.”

“I don’t know how that would work.”

“No matter. That’s actually what I wanted to ask you before I talked with your staff last

night.”

Teague swallowed. “Yeah, so?”

“Well, you’d be surprised how loose your employees’ lips are. If I were you, I would

definitely round them all up and give a lecture on discretion and the perils of workplace
gossip. All I had to do was ask a few roundabout questions, and I found out all sorts of
interesting information.”

“Like what?” Teague stood up and paced in front of the sofa. There wasn’t much he

cared to hide, but what he kept to himself was important. Was it possible his human
employees were catching on to what happened upstairs? That wouldn’t bode well for any of
them.

“When I couldn’t find you, I questioned a few people to see if anyone knew where

you’d gone. One of them said you’d probably gone out for a booty call. Apparently, it’s pretty
common knowledge that the man you’ve been seeing hasn’t been in recently. The staff has a
bet going. Three-quarters of them think you’ll cave and find someone new to fuck within the
month, while the rest hold out hope that you’ve finally met your match and will go after
your lover. They say you’re much nicer to work for when you getting laid on a regular basis.”

“Shit.” Teague rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying to come up with something that

would sound believable about his trysts with Kyle. He’d never forgive himself if something
happened to Kyle as a result of Teague’s lifestyle. If he explained who Kyle was, Red
wouldn’t be able to refrain from involving him. Kyle didn’t deserve to have his world turned
upside down because he’d chosen the wrong man to fuck.

“Shit pretty well sums it up, pal. Like I said, I’d definitely have a talk with your

employees. So, do you want to tell me about the mystery man, or would you like me to share
what I already know.”

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Amanda Young

“There isn’t anything to tell. There was a man I was fucking -- it happened a few

times -- but then he stopped coming around. It was no big deal,” Teague lied, sticking as
close to the truth as possible.

“So your disappearing act didn’t have anything to do with this guy?”

“Nope.”

“Really? Because I find it kind of odd that the name of your new beau matches

someone on the cancelled membership list. Your little fuck-toy wouldn’t happen to be the
man you sired, would he?”

“Excuse me?” Teague growled, damn tempted to throw the phone at the wall. “First of

all, I don’t need to sire someone in order to get laid. Secondly, fuck you, Red. Who I sleep
with is none of your damn business.”

“Wrong. If you’re intentionally withholding information that could help me do my job,

it is my business. If you want to put your ass on the line for a tight hole, so be it, but I’m not
going to let it endanger other people’s lives or the life of your brother. Don’t make me take
steps that ruin our friendship, Teague. We’ve been pals too long for you to throw it away
over a piece of ass.”

“How could you --” Teague jaw clenched as he parked his ass on the edge of the couch.

Is that what Red really thinks of me -- that I’m that self-centered

? His knees moved up and

down of their own free will, his body unable to stay still because of the tension coursing
through his muscles. “I would never intentionally risk Cadge’s safety -- not for any reason. I
don’t know how you can even accuse me of it.”

“I don’t want to believe it, but you aren’t leaving me much choice. I know you’re

hiding something. You took off like your ass was on fire last night. Help me out here. Make
me believe differently. You know it’s only a matter of time until I find the creature you sired
anyway. I would think you’d want to help me catch him before he kills anyone else, since
you’re the one responsible for creating him.”

Ah, nothing like a guilt trip to start the day

. “I wish you all the luck with that. Really.

If there was anything I knew that would help, I would tell you. Beyond the name on his
membership form and where I dropped him off on Victor’s doorstep, I don’t know of
anything to share with you.”

Except the name of the one man who could provide more

details

.

The chances were slim that Kyle would know anything useful. It wasn’t as if Darren

had gone back to his old life and tried to set up house as a Nightfeeder. He’d ditched his life
like an old shoe, his lover along with it. Teague was certain Kyle didn’t know anything.
There was no reason to get the other man involved with their lifestyle. He was too sweet, too
trusting to be brought into a world that thrived on carnage.

“All right, but you know I’m going to find out if you’re lying.”

“I’m not.”

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49

“Fine. I’ll be in touch when I have news. And Teague --”

“Yeah?”

“You might want to think about keeping one eye in the back of your head for a while.

Between the mess with Victor and then the creature you sired, I’d say you have plenty of
enemies to watch out for.”

The phone went silent against Teague’s ear. Red had hung up on him. He closed the

cell and dropped it on the side table, wishing he hadn’t bothered to answer it. Leave it to Red
to threaten him and lay a guilt trip all in the same conversation.

Frankly, he didn’t think he had much to worry about when it came to his or Cadge’s

safety. Surely Victor had no idea he’d been the one to turn Darren, else he would’ve heard
about it before now. Obviously Victor wasn’t very concerned with the murder he or his men
had committed the night before, otherwise they wouldn’t have left the body lying there. As
far as Darren being a threat -- there was no reason to think he would come after the person
who’d saved his life.

He wanted to help, but there wasn’t much he could really do without getting in the

way. Red was handling the investigation aspect and would undoubtedly turn Victor over to
the council for his blatant disregard for human life. The council would call down whatever
punishment they saw fit, though Teague doubted it would amount to much since the SOB
was one of their precious inner circle. The bastard deserved to be drawn and quartered for
what he’d done. If he was arrogant enough to torture and kill under Teague’s roof then God
knew how many others there were that no one knew about.

He shuddered as images of Darren and the unknown woman flashed through his mind.

Someone needed to pay for what had been done.

He figured he could look into finding Darren, maybe visit Kyle and see if he could

unearth some details of where Darren could be, though it wasn’t really smart to keep
popping by there and leaving a trail for Red to follow. Chances were good that Darren was
still with Victor anyway. No way would Victor let go of someone capable of doing his dirty
work.

Wait… is it possible that Victor is the one behind the murders?

If Darren was still trailing Victor, as the newly changed were wont to do after their

transition, that could be how his blood had gotten on the bodies. It was only natural the men
would feed on the remains of whomever Victor had killed.

Which didn’t explain the unknown factor of Darren’s genetics.

He didn’t know diddlysquat about all the other breeds of creatures -- not when it came

to genetics -- but it just didn’t seem plausible that he could have drank from someone and
not noticed something off about their blood. The council’s lab must have made a mistake --
mixed up samples or tainted them somehow. Shit like that was always happening on those
forensics shows on TV.

50

Amanda Young

He needed to talk to Red, but he didn’t feel like being interrogated again. He’d have to

call later, after he’d had a chance to chew over his speculations and could present a better
argument. Red would just tear his ideas down if he didn’t present a solid hypothesis anyway.

In the meantime, he could look into Darren’s past and try to find a glimpse of who the

man used to be, before his transition. He could do some digging on the Internet. All the
information he needed was on the old club application Darren had filled out for his
membership.

Or…I could visit Kyle and gently coerce the conversation in Darren’s direction. See

what I can learn that way

.

The thought was damn tempting. Kyle was probably better off if Teague stayed away

from him. Besides, he needed to focus all his attention on how to go about resolving their
problems, without fucking up his and Cadge’s life in the process.

Oh, how he wished there was an easy button for that.

Teague rose and strode over to the drapery covered window. He pulled aside the thick

black curtains and gazed out, watching night descend on the city. From his vantage point, he
had a spectacular view of the skyline. Twinkling lights popped up in clusters, lighting up the
night like a parade of festive decorations. The sight was beautiful, but it left him unmoved.
He longed for the feel of the sun’s warm rays on his skin, the bold colors of daylight all
around him. Childhood memories of frolicking outside, the wind in his hair as he climbed
trees and swam in the creek behind their family’s manor, seemed like fragmented dreams
from someone else’s life. They’d been hiding in the shadows for so long, pretending to be
something they weren’t in order to blend in, that he’d all but suppressed the familial pride
his father had tried to instill in them.

Things would change if he stepped forward and claimed their birthright, something he

couldn’t --

wouldn’t

-- do without his brother. Cadge was the oldest; technically, their

father’s spot on the council belonged to him. If he came forward without Cadge, it would be
as good as officially declaring Cadge dead. That was out of the question. Regardless of what
everyone else already believed, he couldn’t allow the lie to pass his lips.

Teague leaned forward and rested his forehead against the cool glass. He closed his eyes

and tried to separate the winding threads of jumbled confusion in his mind. His brain felt
like an overfilled extension cord, ready to short out and go kaput at any second. There was
too much happening for him to keep up with it all. If he didn’t know better, he’d swear he’d
been dropped smack dab in the middle of some screwed up soap opera.

Life shouldn’t be this damn complicated

.

He needed to take a step back from everything that needed to be accomplished and

concentrate on one thing at a time. He knew computers. That was something he could do
right then, without involving anyone else.

What he managed after that was anyone’s guess.

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51

* * * * *

A long hot shower was the first thing on Kyle’s agenda once he arrived home. After his

grueling day, he would have happily crawled into bed and tried to forget everything that had
happened, but being covered in the remains of his mother’s dinner prevented such an option.

Reluctant to leave his mom when she was confused and upset, Kyle had stayed at the

nursing home through dinner, trying to cheer her up and pack as much quality time into his
weekly visit as possible. He’d thought things were going well or as well as could be expected.
Sometime between cajoling her into finishing her meal and the dessert, her mood had taken
a turn for the worse, and he’d ended up wearing most of her vanilla pudding. All the way
home he hoped he didn’t get pulled over, because explaining why he was covered what
looked like a massive amount of cum wasn’t his idea of a good time.

He stripped and stepped into the shower, quickly running through the motions of

getting clean. For once, he didn’t even feel like lingering over his dick, which looked as
forlorn as he felt. It was just hanging there, lying in a sad slump over his balls and waiting to
be rinsed free of the soap bubbles. Once upon a time, all it took was a stiff breeze to get his
dick up, but now it seemed as if his wang needed some magical touch to do its thing.

He wondered what chance he had of Teague showing up again like he had the night

before.

Probably slim

.

Fuck

.

He danced around under the spray and shook his head free of excess water. The sad

state of his love life didn’t bear thinking on. Not after spending the day at the nursing home
and witnessing people with problems a million times worse. His issues sounded like a petty
case of high school drama in comparison.

Kyle turned off the water and stepped out of the shower stall. The temperature drop

between the humid shower and the cool air circulating through his bathroom made him
shiver, goose bumps popping up all over his body. He grabbed a towel off the rack and
hastily patted himself dry on his way into the bedroom. He donned a pair of worn
drawstring sweatpants and ambled out into the living room, where he plopped down on the
sofa and picked up the remote control. Brainless television suited his mood marvelously.

A women’s prison show caught his eye, and he stopped for a moment, watching until

he realized the writers had the entire cast portrayed as lesbians and involved with each other
in one way or another. Which was almost as ridiculous as the way people assumed jail was a
gay man’s paradise. As if being gay meant you were happy to bend over and spread ’em for
anyone willing to toss you a fuck.

Kyle snorted.

I’m just a little bit more choosy than that, thank you very much

.

The thing with Teague was a fluke, brought on by alcohol and rampant horniness after

Darren had left him. It wasn’t like him to sleep with someone he’d just met. Call him crazy,

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Amanda Young

but he usually wanted to get to know his potential partners. Now that he thought about it, it
was entirely possible that he was

too

choosy about the people he dated. If he could just talk

himself into settling for lukewarm affection and companionship, he wouldn’t feel as
disgusted with his lot in life. Maybe friendship and lust -- the two factors he wanted most in
a prospective mate -- simply weren’t traits he would ever find in one man. It was entirely
possible he would have to settle for one or the other. Given the choice, he believed he’d
choose friendship and lukewarm sex over a flash in the pants.

As if the TV god heard his inner monologue and deemed to offer a solution, a

commercial ad featuring one of the many online dating agencies blazed across the screen.
Intrigued, Kyle listened to the spiel and wondered if he was desperate enough to actually try
something like that. Surely only the hard up signed up for online dating. He didn’t know of
anyone who went for that sort of thing -- or admitted it, at least.

His glance wandered across the room to his computer desk. Would it be so bad really?

He could sign up and just see what all the fuss was about. He didn’t actually have to meet
anyone, if he didn’t want to.

Kyle turned off the TV and contemplated whether he dared give the site a look, or just

say the hell with it and head to bed.

Alone. Again

.

Who was he kidding?

He crossed the room and fired up the computer. Curiosity made him want to check it

out. Hell, if nothing else, maybe he’d make a few new friends.

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53

Chapter Seven

After another fruitless cold call, Teague hung up the phone and scratched his head.

Under the guise of being an inheritance lawyer, he’d spent the better part of the early
evening tracking down Darren’s work associates from the hospital where he’d worked as a
registered nurse to see if they knew how to reach him. Much like his Internet search the day
before and Red’s inquires around town, he’d hit one dead end after another. No one had
heard from or seen Darren since the Friday before Teague had stepped in and changed the
course of Darren’s life.

Darren Bernard truly seemed to have dropped off the earth. His bank account hadn’t

been touched, and there was no new activity on any of the numerous credit cards listed in
his name. The condo he owned was in foreclosure, all the personal items still inside. The
only speck of information they had to follow was Darren’s late model Toyota truck. It was
missing, and Red had a buddy on the state police put a call out on the tags, in the hopes that
they could use that to track Darren down or at least affirm whether it was in his possession.
If it had been stolen, they would have another dead end.

He was still firmly in support of his belief that Darren was staying with Victor and

currently working under the overlord’s thumb. Red was being obstinate and disagreeable,
claiming someone of Darren’s unnatural strength wouldn’t hang around to take orders from
anyone, even a creature as powerful as Victor. Red had even gone so far as to blame Darren
for the woman’s murder -- reasoning that the viciousness of her death had been so similar
with all the other attacks -- though Teague himself had witnessed Victor ascending the stairs
toward the victim on the night she was killed.

Even Cadge agreed with Red, which irked Teague to no end. Cadge was

his

brother. He

was supposed to back Teague up, not side with Red, especially when he didn’t know what
the hell he was talking about.

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Amanda Young

He thought Red was trying to cast blame for all the recent violence on an unwitting

pawn instead of at Victor’s feet where it belonged. Darren had just been unlucky enough to
fit the bill. Red’s supposition about weird genetics aside, Teague didn’t see how someone so
newly turned could wreak that much havoc.

Teague knew Victor was in a position of power, and that a lot of people feared him --

even himself at one time or another -- but the man wasn’t God. He wasn’t invincible, for
fuck’s sake. The bastard needed to be held accountable for what he’d done.

Unfortunately, Teague didn’t have the means to prove Victor guilty. All he had was his

word and the coincidence of two repeated attacks under the roof of his establishment. Since
he’d stepped in and covered up the attack on Darren, he didn’t even have a witness to back
him up.

The burden of proof was on his shoulders, and the weight was taking its toll. He felt

certain if he could locate Darren, he could disprove Red’s theory about the other man being
some kind of monster hybrid and cast light on Victor as the culprit. All it would take was
one blood test to ascertain whether or not Darren’s genetic makeup matched the crazy
hodgepodge of DNA Red claimed he possessed.

Without Darren, he faced an uphill battle.

It was apparent no one wanted to step up and make a claim against Victor, and he

couldn’t afford to. His past wouldn’t survive the scrutiny. If it were just his own ass at risk,
he wouldn’t have given it a second thought. But he had Cadge’s welfare to consider -- even if
he did feel like strangling his brother more often than not these days.

Teague stood and stretched, lifting his arms above his head. His back popped as he

leaned his head from one side to the other, trying to get his blood pumping. Sitting on his
butt for so long, first at the computer and then on the phone, had his muscles stiff and achy.
He wasn’t used to be so sedentary for such long periods of time. At work he was on the go
nonstop. Even during time off he was usually out and about, checking up on the club’s
competition, of which there was little, or working out in the spare room he’d redesigned as a
home gym. He’d made plenty use of the treadmill over the last day, running his body ragged
while he contemplated how to find Darren. He tended to be his most creative while working
out; something about the burn of exercise cleared his mind and allowed him to think. That’s
how he’d come up with the idea to call Darren’s old work associates. It was also where he’d
decided on paying Kyle a visit if the phone calls didn’t pan out.

Now he was second-guessing himself. He wanted to see Kyle but was honest enough to

admit his reasons were selfish. His dick ached with the need to be buried balls deep inside
the other man, to see hunger build in Kyle’s expressive eyes while they fucked, to hear Kyle
cry out Teague’s name when he came.

No one else had ever ensnared him as quickly or deeply as Kyle could with a single,

beguiling look. His dick got hard just from thinking of the other man. The fact that he hadn’t
moved on to a new lover after weeks of being separated from Kyle should have sent him

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55

running in the opposite direction. Amazingly, it hadn’t. If anything, the chemistry he and
Kyle shared tempted him into holding out for the best, his body craving Kyle like a junkie in
search of a fix.

That’s all it is though

, Teague rationalized,

just a physical thing

. It was only natural

he’d crave more of someone who was such a perfect physical match for him.

Kyle’s lean body, all sleek muscle and satiny hair roughened flesh, seemed created for

Teague’s particular taste in sexual partners. The eager way Kyle submitted to Teague’s desires
was reason enough to make him crave more, not even taking into account the tight clasp of
the other man’s ass or the way his lips were molded to fit snuggly around Teague’s thick
shaft.

He shuddered, recalling the soft, luscious feel of Kyle’s lips beneath his own. Now that

he’d had a taste of the other man’s delectable mouth, he wanted more. Nevertheless, it was
only a physical response, and nothing more.

Teague would have felt lucky to claim Kyle for his own, if he’d been a man who

actually deserved Kyle’s love. He wasn’t cut out for long-term relationships. Thanks to
watching Cadge’s disastrous affair with Adrian, he knew his lifestyle wasn’t suitable for
anything more than the occasional fling. Kyle would only end up hurt -- or worse -- and
Teague couldn’t bear the thought of being responsible.

If I paid him a visit tonight, it would be more like business than anything personal.

And I could discreetly break things off with him, instead of leaving everything hanging in
limbo like before. I owe him that much

.

It was a thin excuse, and Teague knew it. Now that he’d rationalized the hell out of it,

the thought would be stuck in his head until he acted on it. Right or wrong, he was going.
He would just have to be careful and make sure he wasn’t followed. He wouldn’t put it past
Red to have someone watching him.

His mind made up, he grabbed his wallet and keys off the end table and headed for the

front door. He stepped out into the hallway and glanced at his brother’s door across the way.
After a second of hesitation, he decided not to say anything about going out.

I’ll probably be back before I’m missed anyhow

.

The drive to Kyle’s apartment building went by in a flash, Teague’s mind on everything

and nothing at all. His thoughts jumped from one subject to the next with little rhyme or
reason, never on any one thing long enough for them to solidify. However, by the time he
parked his bike across from Kyle’s apartment building, Teague wasn’t thinking about
anything but Kyle.

He hopped off his bike and strode across the road, anxious to see Kyle. He wasn’t

entirely sure what kind of welcome he would receive after skipping out while the other man
had slept the last night they’d spent together, but he felt confident he could overcome it with
a little charm. The hard part was going to be fishing for information about Darren without
making Kyle suspicious.

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Amanda Young

His earlier plan to end things was forgotten as he entered the building and jogged up

the stairs. He stopped outside Kyle’s door and knocked, waiting to hear his lover moving
around inside the apartment. Silence was his only greeting. He knocked again, trying to
remember if he’d seen Kyle’s vehicle parked outside -- if he would even recognize it if he
had. He knew Kyle drove a Mercedes, but he couldn’t remember what model or color. Not
that it really mattered, since he hadn’t thought to look for it on his way into the building.

Teague debated breaking into the apartment again so he could wait inside but decided

against it. He didn’t want to invade Kyle’s privacy and risk the man’s wrath over something
he could avoid by simply staying where he was or going back outside to wait. The only
reason he’d done it before was because he’d been concerned about Kyle’s safety. He didn’t
have a ready excuse this time around.

Although I could let myself in and snoop around -- see what I can find about Darren

before Kyle comes home

.

Figuring that was preferable to interrogating Kyle, Teague pulled out his pocketknife

and did just that. He quickly maneuvered through the small apartment, checking drawers
and common hidey-holes -- the freezer, a hollow canister under the sink conveniently
disguised to look like a cleaning product, the upper reaches of the closet -- and found
nothing to tell him what he needed to know. There was one photo of Kyle and Darren
smiling and posing at the Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve, the only trace that lent any
credence to his knowledge of their relationship.

He’d just given up his search and stepped outside when a midnight blue Mercedes

pulled into the lot in front of the building and parked under a street lamp. With a smile,
Teague started toward the car. He made it halfway down the sidewalk before he registered
the man riding shotgun. Frowning, Teague stopped and crossed his arms over his chest,
waiting for Kyle to get out.

Teague watched the men exit the car, the passenger laughing at something Kyle

must’ve said before they opened the doors. An irrational wave of jealousy surged over him,
making his jaw clench with anger. The way he felt was ridiculous -- he had no claim on
Kyle -- and yet he couldn’t help himself. Seeing Kyle with someone else, the pair laughing
like bosom buddies, made his insides twist into a pretzel.

I just don’t like being replaced so easily -- and by such a little pipsqueak

.

Teague sized Kyle’s companion up and found him severely lacking. The man was short

and stocky with receding brown hair and dressed in a business suit that didn’t quite conceal
the bulging tire around his middle. He smiled at Kyle, and Teague spotted teeth large enough
to put Mr. Ed to shame. Hell, the little twerp probably didn’t even know how to give head.
From the look of the guy’s buckteeth, he’d probably scrape the skin right off Kyle’s dick.

That mental image didn’t help to restore his cool.

Teague stormed toward Kyle, too impatient to wait for the other men to spot him. The

sound of his boots seemed inordinately loud; the thick soles dragging over the pavement and

Secrets and Lies

57

loose gravel. He must not have been the only person to think so, because Kyle finally looked
away from his

friend

and noticed Teague.

Kyle’s expression was pensive as he left his friend and approached Teague. He stopped a

few feet away, his forehead wrinkled in confusion. “What are you doing here?”

“That should be obvious,” Teague snapped a little more brusquely than he’d intended.

He hastened to soften his tone and added, “I wanted to see you.”

“You could have called first.” Kyle glanced back over his shoulder as his friend came

closer. “A little warning would be nice.”

Teague’s spine stiffened. “So that’s the way it’s going to be, huh?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kyle shook his head. “Never mind -- I don’t even

want to know. You can’t keep showing up here whenever you feel like it.” He took a step
closer and lowered his voice. “I have a life of my own, one that can’t be waylaid every time

you

want to get laid.”

Teague studied the inflexible jut of Kyle’s square chin, the stubborn glint in his

beautiful blue eyes, and felt like growling. The little bastard was actually trying to get rid of
him. Teague gritted his teeth, trying to contain the vile diatribe that wanted to spill from his
mouth. He wanted to shout, to bunch his hands into fists and hit something.

The coppery taste of blood filled his mouth, and he was shocked to realize his canine

teeth had descended and were cutting into the soft flesh of his lower lip. He inhaled a deep
breath through his nose and willed his teeth to recede. His gums tingled, the evidence of his
difference withdrawing back into their sheaths.

“Fine. I’ll go. Good luck finding anyone who can satisfy you the way I do.” He sneered

as he looked over Kyle’s shoulder toward the man standing behind him. “I doubt your
present company will do you much good.”

Teague pivoted and headed for his bike, not wasting any time as he climbed onto his

hog and roared down the street.

To hell with Kyle

. He was stupid to put his life on hold to

pay the man a visit anyway. He didn’t know what the hell he’d been thinking. He didn’t
need Kyle or his prissy, human sensibilities.

Teague’s chest ached, his superior vision growing blurry. He cursed and sped up his

bike, blaming the wind for the way his eyes stung.

* * * * *

Kyle swallowed the bile rising in his throat as he watched Teague’s bike disappear

around the bend in the road. He’d done the right thing by sending Teague away, but he felt
like hell about it. Letting Teague believe he was fucking Ted, his snooty next-door neighbor,
seemed wrong, but it was just as well. Although Teague had looked so shocked and --

dare he

think it

? -- hurt. Kyle scoffed at his own fanciful thoughts. More than likely, he’d mistaken

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hurt for pissed off. Other than wounded pride, there was no reason for Teague to be upset. It
wasn’t as if there weren’t a long line of guys willing and eager to wet Teague’s dick.

He’d seen the scads of men at the club who followed Teague around and hung on his

every word as if each syllable was a pearl of wisdom. Even then, Kyle had known it was only
a matter of time before he was replaced. By ending things once and for all, he hoped to get a
clean break before he lost more of his heart. Teague would get over a stab to his pride a lot
faster than Kyle would get over a broken heart.

Ted’s eyes bored into Kyle’s back, the other man’s curiosity at what he’d just witnessed

palpable. He forced himself to tear his gaze away from Teague and turned around, forcing a
smile for Ted’s benefit. “Sorry about that.”

“Hey, it’s no problem.” Ted fiddled with the handle of his leather briefcase. “I, um,

didn’t know you were gay.”

“Yeah, well…” When he’d volunteered to give Ted a ride home, he hadn’t planned on

making more than small talk. He didn’t make an effort to advertise his sexual exploits, or lack
thereof, but he had the strangest urge to say “well, now you do,” and leave it at that. Instead,
he just shrugged and headed for the entrance to his apartment building. It’d been a long
fucking day, and Teague’s little visit hadn’t improved his mood. If Ted wanted to make an
issue of his being gay, he could do it some other time.

Knowing Ted was lazy and would take the elevator, Kyle opted for the stairs. He

entered his apartment and dropped his briefcase beside the door. Rubbing his brow in an
effort to stave off the headache brewing behind his eyes, he slung his keys into the blue
ceramic bowl sitting on the foyer table and pressed play on the blinking answering machine.

Telemarketers droned in the background, trying to sell him everything from long

distance to a new satellite, as he walked into the living room and headed straight for the
crystal decanter of his favorite fifteen-year-old single malt highland Scotch. Waiving the
manners drilled into his head from birth, he tilted the decanter and drank straight from the
source, swallowing until his eyes watered. The liquor slid down his throat and hit his
stomach like a fireball, the sharp sting going a long way toward soothing his frazzled nerves.

The answering machine double beeped, signaling a succession of hang ups. The damn

things had been coming with more and more frequency of late. He hadn’t paid much
attention at first, since everyone got them, but lately he’d received an odd number of calls
that couldn’t be explained away as wrong numbers -- not when they came back to back and
were often late at night while he was trying to sleep. If they continued, he was going to be
forced into having his number changed.

And won’t that be a pain in the ass?

He topped the bottle and set it down, shooing off the impulse to take another big swig.

It wouldn’t do for him to get drunk, but it was damn tempting. Teague’s visit left him shaken
and scarcely able to believe the other man’s nerve. Who did Teague think he was, showing
up and slinging accusations as if he had some right to dictate how Kyle spent his free time, or
with whom? It wasn’t as if they had a relationship.

Secrets and Lies

59

Although Kyle’s heart had taken a flight of fancy after their last night together,

reveling in the possessive way Teague had held and kissed him, there was nothing between
them, and there never would be. Their connection was a figment of his overactive
imagination, just a byproduct of his desperation to belong to someone, to be loved. He knew
that now, whether he wanted to believe it or not.

Kyle slipped out of his charcoal suit jacket, laid it over his arm, and carried it the short

distance down the hallway into the master bedroom. He kicked off his shoes and stripped
down to his skin. The suit and tie went into a bag for the dry cleaner, while he stuffed his
shirt, boxers, and socks into the white plastic hamper between the tall, cherry dresser and
the walk-in closet.

A quick glance at his watch as he took it off and laid it on the dresser confirmed what

he already knew -- he was running behind schedule and needed to hustle unless he wanted
to be late for the casual date he’d arranged for that night.

He bypassed shaving, hoping a little stubble would add to his appeal and help rid him

of the boy-next-door look. He turned on the taps inside the glassed in shower stall, waited
until the water gave off steam, and then stepped under the near scalding spray.

As he lathered and rinsed, he’d tried to shove Teague from his mind. He concentrated

on the evening to come, what he should say and do -- whether or not he was crazy for
agreeing to meet someone he’d hooked up with on the Internet.

Thanks to a slow day at work, he’d spent a good bit of his obligatory eight hours

playing on the computer, bored out of his mind. Not for the first time, he’d begun
daydreaming about what it would be like to get up every morning and go to a job he enjoyed
instead of one he preformed out of duty.

The advertising company his father started fifty years earlier was prosperous; Kyle’s

heart just wasn’t in it. He had absolutely no interest hawking his client’s products to the
public. As with everything else he did, he performed the job to the best of his ability, but
truly couldn’t care less whether or not Mr. and Mrs. John Q. Public bought more toothpaste
or a new brand of soda because of his clever ads.

All he’d have to do was say the word and the two junior partners his father had taken

on would jump on the opportunity to buy out the remaining fifty-two percent of the
company stock Kyle owned.

The only thing preventing him from doing just that was the fact he had no idea what

he really wanted to do. There was a world of possibilities, but nothing in particular jumped
out at him. His life was in limbo, waiting for him to make some kind of decision.

That thought had prompted him to check out the online profile he’d filled out the

night before. To his surprise, he found two messages waiting for him. One he automatically
deleted, seeing a cock shot as the main photograph. He wasn’t interested in finding a fuck
buddy. Anyone who had that sort of photo as their main one would almost certainly want

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nothing more. The second message held more potential. The man, who claimed his name was
Travis, simply said hello and that he liked Kyle’s profile.

Kyle had checked out the other guy’s profile and was delighted to find a picture of

“Travis.” He was attractive, with a head full of closely cropped black hair and a neatly
trimmed black mustache and goatee. He was smiling, and Kyle was pleased to see tiny
crinkles at the corners of the other man’s eyes. Somehow that one small flaw made him more
real than a lot of the other profile pictures Kyle had seen, where the applicant shared glossy,
airbrushed images of their entire naked body. Travis also claimed to want the same things
Kyle did -- to start things slow and make a real connection, instead of just the usual physical
hookups most of the people online seemed to want. Overall, Kyle thought the guy had
potential.

After checking it out, he waffled about whether or not to answer. He was nervous, yet

excited about the prospect of meeting someone new -- someone who seemed interested in
building a friendship before he tried to find out how well Kyle could suck his dick. Before he
went to lunch to meet a prospective client, Kyle messaged the man back.

When he returned, a new account secured for the company, Kyle found a reply waiting

for him. With damp palms and a heart trying to gallop out of his chest, Kyle had typed in his
acceptance for a date that evening to meet for a drink at Limericks, a local Irish-themed pub.

All afternoon he’d questioned his decision. He was still unsure of what he would do as

he’d pulled into the parking lot of his building. Running into Teague and seeing his irrational
behavior had helped make Kyle’s mind up. It was past time he moved on and put their affair
behind him. He didn’t want or need a jealous lover who only came around spouting demands
when it suited him.

The best way to get over one man is to get under another

, Kyle thought as he stepped

from the shower and scrubbed the dripping moisture off his skin. He had no intention of
jumping into bed with anyone, but the idea was still a sound one. Forgetting about Teague
wouldn’t be possible if Kyle turned himself into a recluse. What he needed was someone else
to focus his attention on. The guy he was seeing tonight would suit his purposes well enough.
Regardless of whether they hit it off or not, at least he wouldn’t be sitting at home pining
away for a man he couldn’t have.

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61

Chapter Eight

Wicked butterflies gnawed at Kyle’s stomach as he approached Limericks, where he

and his date, Travis, were suppose to meet. From where he stood outside the establishment
he could see waiters bustling around, serving the crowd, in their green and white striped
shirts. Though he’d never been there, the place seemed popular and festive -- the perfect,
public atmosphere for a first date.

There really isn’t anything to worry about

, Kyle assured himself.

If I hate the guy, I’ll

just leave. No big deal. Hell, he might not even show up

.

The prospect of being stood up didn’t do very much for his flagging self-confidence. He

smoothed damp palms over his denim covered thighs and approached the entrance. Feigning
assurance, he held his head up high and strolled into the pub. The mouthwatering scent of
scalded beef and yeasty beer hit his nose as the glass door swung shut with a smack behind
him.

Even over the din inside, the door seemed extra loud. Several people glanced his way,

looked him over, and dismissed him as nobody important before returning their attention to
their company. Kyle tried to ignore the curious looks as he checked out the interior -- the
dark wood paneling, green decorations out the wazoo, and framed Guinness posters on the
walls -- and anxiously glanced around for his date. Finding no one who fit Travis’s
description, Kyle headed toward the oval bar in the center of the room. A stiff shot of liquid
courage sounded like just the thing he needed, since he was damn tempted to call it quits and
head home.

He pulled out one of the stools and sat, waving the female bartender over when she

turned his way. As he waited for her, Kyle checked out the crowd -- predominately middle-
aged men with a couple of twenty-something guys here and there and few women. A large

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flat screen TV was mounted on the right side of the bar, a football game flashing across the
screen, though there was no sound coming from the speakers.

The establishment screamed testosterone, but definitely not in a gay friendly way. He

wondered why Travis had picked this place to meet instead of somewhere they could be
more open. Maybe being surrounded by beer guzzling heterosexuals was his date’s idea of a
safe guard -- a way to make sure things stayed platonic.

I suppose I can understand that

.

He ordered a shot of Jägermeister and followed it up with a beer while he watched the

door and kept an eye on the clock to see how much time was passing.

Three beers later, his bladder was screaming for relief, and there was still no sign of his

Internet hookup. The hands on his watch taunted him with the fact that either his date
couldn’t tell time, or he wasn’t coming.

Fuckin’ figures. I should have known better than to expect Internet dating to work

.

He paid his tab and hopped down off the stool, planning to hit the head before he left.

Weaving around tables and people, he made his way to the back of the pub. A sign hung over
the open threshold leading into the back hallway, male and female characters depicted in
grass green with arrows pointing toward their respective restrooms. The ladies room was
within sight, but the men’s room appeared to be down the narrow hall and around the bend
of the T-shaped corridor.

He walked down the dim hallway, glanced left to right, and spotted the bathroom, the

door boasting a plaque with a little green man and ‘Men’s Room’ in fancy script. He turned
toward the door just as someone or something large moved at the edge of his vision.
Stopping, he whipped his head around in that direction, but nothing was there.

Rolling his eyes at the odd stroke of paranoia, Kyle continued into the men’s room and

relieved himself. He was washing his hands when a strange scratching noise filtered through
the door and reaching his ears. It sounded like someone scratching long, pointed nails over a
chalkboard. The creepy image of Freddy from

A Nightmare on Elm Street

lying in wait

outside the door with his trusty glove of razor sharp knives and scar riddled features entered
Kyle’s mind and made him laugh. Alcohol had never affected his imagination before, but it
seemed to be doing just that tonight.

With a nervous snort, he reached for the door handle. The knob began to turn before

he touched it. The door flew open. Kyle jumped back, startled, and narrowly missed being
run over by a heavyset man who burst through the door.

“Sorry,” the guy muttered, scowling as he hurried past Kyle toward the urinals.

Kyle exited and tried to shake off his case of the willies. He couldn’t even blame his

strange behavior on being drunk since he only had a mild buzz. Jägermeister was going on
his shit list.

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63

On his trip back down the hall, through the pub, and out into the cool night air, he felt

as if someone was watching his every move. If he didn’t know better, he would’ve sworn he
was high, the paranoia was so strong. He hadn’t smoked a joint since college, but he
recognized the suspicious tingle in the back of his mind, the way his skin itched as if he were
being stared at.

All I need is the munchies and a good case of horniness, and I’ll have all the

symptoms

.

He made haste down the sidewalk past darkened storefronts, his attention divided

between his Mercedes parked along the curb farther ahead and his surroundings, as if he
expected someone to pop out of the lingering shadows and yell “boo.” Light from the
overhead streetlamps wavered and dimmed, casting weird shadows as he passed under each
one, lending an eerie atmosphere to what had seemed so harmless only an hour earlier.

Nearing the car, he pulled his keys out and hit the unlock button on the car remote.

The click of the locks disengaging reached his ears and brought an overwhelming sense of
relief. He was going to go home and straight to bed. By tomorrow morning, this evening and
everything that had happened -- from Teague’s show of possessiveness to being stood up and
then experiencing these weird tingles of foreboding -- would all seem like no more than a
strange dream.

Curling his fingers to open the car door, Kyle felt something sting the back of his neck.

He raised his hand to swat whatever had bit him -- not even considering that it was too cold
for insects -- and found a small, tubular projection embedded below his ear. Frowning, he
pulled at the object and dislodged it, wincing at the sting. He brought it around to his face
and stared in confusion at what looked like a small dart with a needle sharp tip.

The scuffle of boots over the pavement resonated behind Kyle. Terror chilled his blood.

Afraid of what he would see, and yet too cagey not to look, he glanced back over his
shoulder.

Rough hands gripped either side of his head and prevented him from turning. Humid

air blew over his right ear. “Face front, Goldilocks.”

The man’s voice had an odd, almost lyrical accent. Something about it made what was

happening to him all the more surreal. People got mugged all the time -- realistically, Kyle
knew that -- but he’d never expected it to happen to him.

Fear kept Kyle immobile for all of two seconds then the desire to live kicked in and

sent adrenaline rushing through his bloodstream. He tried to jerk his head away, only to find
his skull trapped in an immovable viselike grip. He kicked back at his attacker and stomped
down twice, finally smashing the man’s booted foot on the second try.

“Quit fighting me,” the man ordered in a strangely lyrical accent. “This will go easier

for you if you stop fighting.”

Yeah, right

. Kyle could just imagine who it would make things easier for if he stopped

fighting back. His head began to swim as he struggled harder, seemingly to no avail. The man

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didn’t make a sound, and his hold on Kyle’s cranium didn’t waver.

Jesus, what kind of

muscle-bound freak is this guy?

A cold sweat dampened Kyle’s face as nausea clutched his stomach in an iron fist and

sent bile rising to the back of his throat. His energy was leached away by a debilitating rush
of lightheadedness. Realizing the futility of trying to fight off his attacker, he stopped
fighting and decided to try a different approach. If worst came to worst, he could always
puke on the man’s shoes; that might offend him enough to cause a chink in his almost
inhumanly strong grip. “Don’t hurt me. My wallet’s in my back pocket. Just take it.”

“Hold still, damn it.”

Kyle had no choice but to comply as something sharp pressed into the side of his neck

beneath his right ear. He had a brief moment to wonder how the man was holding a knife to
his neck when both his hands were on Kyle’s head then pain stabbed through his throat and
erased everything. His mouth opened in a silent scream as a wet smacking noise filled his
ears.

* * * * *

Teague spent the better part of the night at Brimstone, a local S & M club, taking out

his aggression on one pain slut after another. By the time he left, he was hard, sweaty…and
bored. Flogging a man until he spurted and cried did nothing but make him feel empty. The
usual sense of accomplishment and satisfaction was missing. He took no pleasure in any of it.
The cruel strike of his whip against pliant flesh only served to remind him of the tenderness
he’d felt with Kyle.

When physical aggression failed to make him feel better, he adjourned to Steam, a

popular bathhouse located on Penn Avenue, with every intention of fucking Kyle out of his
system. Things hadn’t quite worked out the way he’d hoped. Although his dick had gotten
hard and stayed that way while watching men fuck around with each other, he couldn’t let
anyone touch him. He stayed on the fringes of the group, like a voyeur. Now he was going
home -- alone -- and was worse off than when he started. Apparently, his head wasn’t the
only thing Kyle was fucking up, if Teague couldn’t even manage to think of porking someone
else without envisioning Kyle’s china blue eyes watching him with hurtful reproach.
Hanging around was useless, if he couldn’t pull his head out of Kyle’s ass long enough to
enjoy himself.

Teague straddled his bike and drove home, a macabre slideshow of Kyle and the new

guy he was fucking, their bodies sweaty and straining toward orgasm, playing on a constant
loop in his head.

If Kyle could move on so easily, why couldn’t he? What was so fucking special about

Kyle that had Teague coming back for more long after he should have lost interest? If Kyle
was only a fuck buddy, why couldn’t Teague forget him as he had all the men who came
before?

Secrets and Lies

65

Who needed enemies when he could torture himself just fine?

Shit. Cadge is going to be pissed off I was out all night instead of working with him and

Red to t ack down Darren

. He should have said something before he left, but he hadn’t

expected to be gone long.

r

Teague whizzed down the highway, soaking in the feel of his bike rumbling between

his legs and the wind biting at his face.

Fuck it

. Cadge and Red would just have to get over it.

It was only one night he’d wasted.

Several miles from home, Teague noticed an odd orange glow lighting the night sky.

He sped up, forcing his attention to stay on the road. His dread rose along with the toxic
stench of smoke as he made a sharp left-hand turn onto the street leading toward the club.
The sound of sirens grew louder. Flashing red, white, and blue lights joined the dancing
orange radiance.

The startling red of a fire truck came into sight, followed by police vehicles and an

ambulance. Teague’s heart stalled and then beat double time as the club came into view,
smoke rising from the burning building. Steam rose from the roof as it was blasted with
water from all sides.

His ears filled the roar of his pulse as he searched the crowd for some sign of his

brother. No familiar faces came into view, only the uniforms of the police and fire
departments as they worked to keep nosy onlookers back and get the fire under control.

Cadge rarely left home; he was too busy with his research and his quest to solve their

parent’s murder. If he wasn’t outside it could only mean one thing.

Cadge was

inside

the burning building

.

Time seemed to slow as he swerved onto the lot, overturned his bike in his haste to get

off it, and sprinted toward the building. He was halfway there before he remembered to
breathe. All he could think about was his reclusive brother trapped upstairs, unable to get
out of the building.

Immortal didn’t mean invincible.

He ignored the curious stares and ran faster. Someone shouted and a policeman lunged

in front of him, ordering him to stop. Teague dodged the man’s attempt to grab him, vaulted
over a fat gray hose slithering over the ground underfoot like a snake and kept going.

He had to get his brother out of there. Cadge was the only family he had left.

Mere feet from the building’s entrance, a wave of smoke slapped Teague in the face.

His lungs seized, refusing the tainted air, and sent him into coughing fit that threatened to
bow him over. His eyes filled with moisture, making his surroundings a garish blur of black
and red. He stumbled forward, determined to get inside and find Cadge, when an explosion
rocked the building. The ground beneath him trembled.

Something big tackled Teague from behind and propelled him away and to the right of

the entrance just as the overhead canopy crashed to the ground, taking the club’s unlit sign

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with it in a shower of glass that bounced upward from the pavement like a reverse hail
storm. Shards pelted Teague’s arms, legs, and the side of his face not smashed into the rocky
pavement.

“Get off me.” He struggled against the man atop him, twisting and bucking beneath

what felt like half a ton of muscle and bone. “Let me up, damn it. My brother’s in there.”

“Calm down, man. The building is clear.”

The pressure on Teague’s back let up. He twisted around and stared at the fireman,

who was rising to his feet. “What? Cadge isn’t in there?”

The fireman nodded, his helmet bobbing. “The only two men who were inside are

right over there.” He pointed to an area away from the building, where the ambulance sat
like a waiting specter of hope. “The redheaded dude was pulling the darkheaded one out of
the building as we arrived.”

Teague shot to his feet and ran toward the ambulance, an abundance of relief howling

through his soul. His eyes felt misty, which he blamed on the smoke, and rapidly blinked
away.

“You’re welcome,” the fireman shouted, as Teague spotted two figures huddled

together several paces from the back of the ambulance. Red’s bright hair stood out, as did his
friend’s wildly waving arms.

Snatches of his friend’s tirade reached Teague’s ears as he neared the other men.

“…

could have been killed…not worth it…what were you thinking

?”

Red turned to face the building and spotted Teague just as he reached the two men.

“About time,” he grumbled.

Teague ignored his friend and skidded to his knees beside Cadge, throwing his arms

around his brother in a tight squeeze, and damn near bowled them both over backward in
the process.

“Whoa.” Cadge caught himself on his elbows, inches above the cold ground. “Jesus,

Teague, what are you trying to do, kill me?”

“Very funny, asshole.” Teague squeezed tighter for a second and then forced himself to

let go. “Sorry.”

“It’s all right. I’m okay,” Cadge said, as if he sensed Teague’s inner turmoil.

“Where the hell have you been all night?” Red questioned. “We looked everywhere for

you before we left the building. You better be damned glad your brother is okay because if
he had gotten himself killed while you were out playing, I would’ve…”

“Shut up, Red,” Cadge warned in the stern tone he only used when he really meant

business. “It isn’t his fault. He couldn’t have known what was going to happen.”

“That’s no excuse…”

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67

Teague butted in, cutting Red off. “Enough, damn it. I’m sorry I wasn’t here -- that I

didn’t tell anyone I was going out -- but would one of you please tell me what’s going on? I
come home to find the club on fire, and both of you sitting out here like you’re getting ready
to roast marshmallows. What the hell happened?”

“There isn’t much to tell. Red was upstairs with me, looking into Darren’s family

history. There wasn’t much to find, since he spent most of his childhood in foster care after
his mother died of ovarian cancer when he was three. Her history is bland as dishwater, and
his father’s name isn’t listed on the birth certificate. We’d just hit a dead end when Joe
called. Said he’d heard something outside and was going to go out and have a look around.”

“Wait. It’s Monday. Joe has Mondays off.”

“No,” Red shook his head. “I’ve been paying him a little extra to hang around and keep

an eye on things for me.”

What the fuck?

“You’ve been paying my own staff to spy on me? Where the hell is Joe? I think I need

to have a word or two with him about loyalty.”

When I get my hands on his traitor ass, I’m going to wring his neck

.

“We don’t know,” Cadge said.

“What do you mean ‘you don’t know’?”

“Neither of us have seen or talked to him since he called. It wasn’t long after Joe called

that we smelled smoke. The entire staircase was filled with it. Red went down ahead of me to
make sure there was a way out, while I went to your apartment to get you.”

“Mm hmm, and after he was satisfied that you weren’t in the building, he tried to insist

on saving his damn computer and all his research on your parents before we left the
building. I had to practically drag him outside.”

“But how did the fire start?”

“Well,” Red began. “The best I can figure from what little I saw is that the fire started

on the second floor in one of the private guest rooms. Although the first floor was clouded
with smoke, there wasn’t any fire damage down there when I came downstairs. Instead, the
blaze was spreading from the second floor upward.”

“And Joe? What did he do, just disappear in a puff of smoke?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. He either started the fire and left before I came down,

or was taken by whoever did. Trust me, if he was anywhere on the property, he would have
been spotted by now.”

“Damn.” Teague glanced from Cadge to Red. “So, what now?”

“I can’t do anything until all these mortals leave the premises, but chances are good

there won’t be anything left anyway. I’m sure whoever set the fire was smart enough to
cover their tracks. For now, I say you and Cadge come back to my hotel room and stay there.

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I’ll have a couple of my men out here tomorrow to go through the rubble and see if they can
find anything useful. It’s too late to do anything tonight; there are only a couple of hours
until dawn.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Teague said. “In the meantime, I think we need to talk. There

are some things I haven’t told you.”

* * * * *

Kyle slowly swam from sleep to consciousness. He moaned, trying to resist waking up,

and smacked his lips at the bitter, pasty taste in his mouth.

Man, what did I drink last night?

Ugh. I must have forgotten to brush my teeth last night

. He inhaled and smelled air filled

with the scent of something musty, similar to the scent of his freezer when it needed to be
thawed and cleaned. A persistent nose itch forced him to move his head. Instead of soft bed
pillows, a rough fabric abraded his cheek.

What the hell?

Kyle eased his eyes open a fraction and peered out at his surroundings through slitted

lids. The first thing he saw was the coarse, tan burlap sack under his head; the second was a
wall of damp cement blocks inches from his nose. As he looked on, a fat cockroach
disappeared into a narrow crevice between the blocks. Another appeared and sped toward
Kyle’s face.

He jerked backward, flopping over onto his backside, and immediately regretted the

sudden motion. A brief impression of a wooden ceiling registered before a blinding pain
lanced through his temples and forced him to slam his eyes shut. Between the headache and
the queasiness in the pit of his gut, he felt as if he’d drunk his weight in liquor the night
before -- which might explain why he had no idea where he was or how he’d gotten there. A
trickle of recollection sparked at the back of his mind but died before the thought could be
realized.

With his eyes closed, he tested his limbs, stretching his arms and legs out one at a time.

The toes of his shoes ran into something hard; the tips of his fingers encountered cold metal.

Metal?

Girding himself for pain, Kyle opened his eyes and slowly sat up. He swiveled his head,

staring at his surroundings in disbelief. Fear crawled down his spine like an insidious insect.

The dim room appeared to be a large basement or cellar, the walls and floor made of

concrete, the ceiling of wood. What he could see of the expansive room was filled to the
ceiling with large wooden crates and cardboard boxes. A narrow path was carved through
the clutter, leading toward a set of decaying stairs.

However, none of that was what caused his mouth to gape open or his senses to go on

high alert. The rounded silver bars that caged him into one corner of the room did a fine job
of that.

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69

The only plus, if one could find a positive while locked inside a cage, was that he

appeared to be alone. The urge to call out for help rode him strong, but he resisted, well
aware that calling attention to himself was a bad idea.

Intent on testing the rigor of his bondage, Kyle weakly staggered to his feet. Vertigo

assaulted him, his head protesting the upward movement. After a moment of intense
concentration to gain his bearings, he slowly made his way to the bars. Once there, standing
inches from the only thing between him and freedom, he felt the hair on his arms stand up.
His stomach clenched, threatening to turn inside out in a sudden rush of nausea.

He wrapped his fingers around the narrow bars, set about three inches apart, and

immediately yanked them back with a howl of pain. Shaking his hands to rid them of the
sharp burn, he glanced down and found his palms bright red, the underside of his fingers
blistered.

What the

…

“I’m glad to see you’ve finally come around. You’ve been out for a while. It’s almost

dawn.”

Startled by the deep voice, Kyle whipped his head around and then winced. Although

he couldn’t make out much in the low light, there was a vague outline of a man near the foot
of the stairs.

“Who are you?” Kyle blurted. “Why am I here?”

The man continued as if Kyle hadn’t spoken. “I’m afraid you had an adverse reaction to

the animal tranquilizer dart we used in order to subdue you from making a scene outside of
the pub. The good news is the bloodletting rid your body of most of the drug. Unfortunately,
without a transfusion, your body’s too weak to fight the allergic reaction.”

“Blood…bloodletting?” Kyle stuttered over the word, his fear mounting. The mention

of the bar brought the night’s events back to the forefront of his mind -- going there to wait
for a date that never showed -- but nothing more.

“Yes. A necessary evil, I’m afraid, but a pleasant one.”

Pleasant

? “For who?” Was this guy involved in a cult, something creepy that required a

blood sacrifice? There was no part of his body that didn’t hurt more than another -- no
especially tender spots where he could have been cut open and bled out. Could they have
used a needle to draw blood? What if it had been dirty or infected with something?

“You’ll find out soon enough. I’d hate to ruin the surprise.”

Fuck the surprise

, Kyle thought, fighting down panic. He lifted his chin and did his

best to fake courage. “I don’t know what you’re up to or why I’m here, but I’m not going to
stand being kenneled like a damn dog. You have to let me out of here. Now.”

“I don’t think so. Not after I’ve gone to so much effort to get you here. That would just

be wasteful.”

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“What do you want from me? If it’s money, you’re welcome to everything I have. Just

let me go.”

“No can do, my friend, so save your sniveling for someone it will have an effect on.”

“Goddamn it, I said let me out of here. Right now.” Without thinking, he grabbed the

bars. The scent of frying meat hit his nostrils in the same instant agonizing pain assaulted his
palms. He swore and forcibly yanked his hands away from the metal. The sudden backward
momentum threw him off balance. His arms pinwheeled to no avail, and his ass hit the hard
floor, jarring his teeth.

The man laughed in a creepy, hollow way. “Stings like a bitch, doesn’t it? I would

advise staying away from the silver bars if I were you, and saving your energy. You’re going
to need it.”

Kyle sat still, the taste of copper filling his mouth, and stared down at his palms. Any

remaining fight he’d hoped to conjure fled in the face of the renewed pain shooting through
his weakened body. His skin felt tight and hot, as if he was feverish, and yet he shivered
from the chill of the cold floor under his ass. His pulse raced and stuttered in turns, speeding
up only to slow back down seconds later.

There was something seriously wrong with him. He had no idea what it could be. No

obtainable drug could make his skin so sensitive to metal. His reaction wasn’t normal, and it
was freaking him out.

He glanced up at the stranger, more terrified of what was happening inside his body

than any threat the man could possibly pose. “What’s wrong with me?” He held up his
hands, palms up, showing the rapidly forming blisters and patches of peeling skin. “This isn’t
normal. What have you done?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t be too worried about that. What’s still yet to be done should concern

you more.”

“Why the fuck are you doing this? What did I ever do to you?”

“You’re not here for me, silly boy. I would have just had you killed and been done with

it. Your fate rests in the hands of someone much more patient.” He stepped into the dim
light, turning too fast for Kyle to see more than his bald head with some kind of weird tattoo
circling it and the dark facial hair on his chin before the shadows once again consumed his
features. The stairs squeaked as the man stepped up onto the bottom one. “I grow weary of
this conversation, and I have a plane to catch. I’d like to say we’ll meet again, but I seriously
doubt it.”

“Wait,” Kyle shouted at the man ascended the stairs. “I have money. All you could ever

need. It’s yours, if you let me out of here.”

The man continued upward, seemingly unfazed.

“Stop, damn you. I need a doctor.” The door slammed shut, sealing Kyle inside his

caged prison with only his thoughts, fears, and his regrets.

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71

Chapter Nine

After leaving the club, or the charred mess of what remained, Teague spent the day

tossing and turning on the hard hotel bed Red had been nice enough to let him crash on.
Getting up hadn’t been an option since he wasn’t looking forward to rehashing the
conversation they’d had on the way to the hotel.

Cadge had seemed to understand his reasons for wanting to protect Kyle from their

world, his brother having firsthand knowledge of how fucked up things could be for a
human introduced into their culture. Red, on the other hand, was pissed and had made no
bones about the fact that he thought Teague was an idiot for trying to shield a human who
meant so little in the grand scheme of things.

He knew Red was irate, and maybe even rightly so, but his belittlement of Kyle

snapped the gossamer threads of Teague’s temper. They’d argued long into the morning, until
Red had enough and stormed off to bed. There was no way to make his friend understand
how he felt about Kyle when he himself wasn’t sure about his emotions. It was rather a moot
point now that Kyle was fucking someone else anyway.

A new moon’s rising hadn’t spun any clarity on the situation. At the moment, Teague

sat in one of the two wingback chairs in the sitting room, while Red sat across from him on
the sofa and Cadge paced the floor. His hands balled into fists as he listened to Red make
excuses for Victor, pleading the Nightfeeder’s innocence as if were his own.

“I understand what you’re saying, Teague -- I do -- but just because Victor was

involved in the attack on David--”

“Darren,” Teague said in exasperation. “His name is Darren Bernard.”

“Right. Darren. Anyway, you know that Victor has an airtight alibi. He was at the

council’s headquarters in Virginia when I called to check in this morning. Just because

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Victor was there when

Darren

was injured and took the boy in doesn’t mean he’s behind

everything else that has happened.”

“He could have had someone set the fire for him. And besides, what about the

placement of the woman’s body? I’m telling you, it was almost identical to how Darren was
posed. Right down to the way the hands were outstretched toward the carpet.”

Red yawned. “We’ve been over this. Unless there’s something else you haven’t told

me --”

“No,” Teague spat through gritted teeth. “You know everything.”

“All right then.” Red nodded. “There’s no reason to keep talking in circles. Nothing

you’ve said proves anything.”

“But what about --”

“Jesus, shut up,” Cadge said, stalking over to the mini fridge. He pulled out a beer and

twisted off the cap. “I’m sick of hearing about Victor. The man’s a megalomaniac, but I don’t
see what motive he would have to burn down the club.”

“I don’t know,” Teague said. “Maybe he found out who we are.”

Cadge sat down beside Red and took a long swallow from his beer. “Doubtful.”

Red stretched out his arm along the back of the couch, his fingers centimeters away

from Cadge’s shoulder. “I don’t see how he could have. I was damn careful when I forged
your family histories.”

“But it is possible. Victor was elected to sit on the council because everyone believed all

Daywalkers were wiped out, and there was an outcry for someone to speak on behalf of the
vampire species. If he found out who we are, it only stands to reason he would want to kill
both of us.”

“Maybe,” Cadge said. “But I still think it’s a stretch. We’ve been here for five years. If

he had any suspicions, we would have heard about it long before now.”

“Cadge has a point, Teague.”

“Fine.” Teague threw his hands up in aggravation. “Believe what you want. But don’t

you think it’s an odd coincidence that Darren, the one you’re so hot to pin all this on, is
staying with Victor?”

“There’s no reason to believe that.”

“Isn’t there? That’s the place he was last seen. I dropped him off there myself.”

“We’ve been going over this all evening. Could we take a break and discuss something

else before I lose my fucking mind?”

Teague shot a glance at Red’s hand, the way the other man’s fingers kept skimming

over the back of Cadge’s nape. “Like what? The way you two seem so cozy all of sudden?”

Cadge rolled his eyes, but he pulled away from Red’s touch and sat forward. “I don’t

know what you’re talking about.”

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73

“Whatever. I have to piss.” Teague stood and left the room, needing a minute alone to

cool his temper. Since Red’s hotel room was the penthouse suite, he and Cadge had each
been given their own rooms with a connecting bathroom.

He relieved his bladder and washed his hands, splashing a little water on his face while

he was at it. Staring into the mirror above the sink, Teague grimaced at his reflection. He
looked like shit. His eyes were bloodshot and dark circles ringed them like black eyes.
Stubble lined his jaw, but he had no plan to do anything about it.

Who the hell cared about shaving when there was so much else that needed to be

figured out? His life was in the toilet, flushed right down the crapper, and there wasn’t a
damn thing he could seem to do about it.

Red’s men were digging through the rubble that was left of his home and business, and

he’d been ordered to stay put. Being told what to do only made him feel all the more like a
recalcitrant child, even if it was for his own protection. He wanted to be out there doing
something, not sitting in a damn hotel waiting for the other shoe to drop.

On top of that, Red and Cadge were both being intentionally obtuse about the

connections between Victor and Darren, even after he’d pointed them out one by one. If
Victor wasn’t the instigator, he was at least involved. No matter what Red wanted to argue
about everything else, there was simply no good reason for Darren to kill a junior council
member. The newbie Nightfeeder wouldn’t even be aware of the council’s existence unless
someone else -- like Victor -- had told him about it.

“Hey Teague!”

Hearing his brother call his name, Teague turned away from the mirror. “I’ll be there

in a minute.”

With a sigh, he reached for a hand towel and dried his hands and face, not yet ready to

join the other men and continue their debate on what to do now. What he’d really like to
think about was what he and Cadge were going to do now that they’d lost their home and
their livelihood. It wasn’t so much that they needed the money as it was that Teague just
liked to stay busy. Aimless wandering had never been his style.

“I think you need to hear this,” Cadge said from outside the closed bathroom door. “It’s

important.”

“All right, all right, I’m coming.” Teague threw down the towel and opened the door.

“What’s the rush?”

“Red’s men found Joe.”

“Alive?”

Cadge laid his hand on Teague’s shoulder and shook his head. “I’m sorry. I know you

liked him.”

Teague looked away. “Yeah.”

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“Come on,” Cadge clapped Teague on the back and pointed toward the sitting room.

“Red had the guys wait to explain until you could join us.”

Teague followed Cadge into the other room, where two low-level regulators stood

front and center, their legs exactly shoulder width apart and their arms crossed behind their
backs.

Although there was plenty of room for him to sit on the sofa with Red and Cadge,

Teague remained standing. He leaned against the wall beside the couch. “Thanks for
waiting.”

“No problem,” Red said. “There was no sense in having them repeat themselves.” Red

looked at his men. “Go ahead, guys.”

Teague bit back a sarcastic remark and swallowed his aggravation as the taller, more

meaty of the two men stepped forward and began to speak. The bland, emotionless mask
both men wore as they recounted how they’d trampled through the charred hulk of the club,
discovered nothing, and then returned to their vehicle to find Joe’s tortured, lifeless body
propped up against one of their tires enraged Teague past the point of being able to hold his
silence. “Where is he?”

The man who’d been speaking stopped. “I’m sorry?”

“Where is…” Teague couldn’t bring himself to say body. “…Joe now?”

“Oh, sorry, sir. We disposed of him according to council standards -- a pyre.”

“A pyre?” Teague raged, livid that the men would do something so callous. “You set

him on

fire

, without giving any thought to the people who might want to say goodbye -- his

friends, his family?”

“U-um,” the man stuttered as he tried to come up with something to say.

Red intervened. “Leave him alone, Teague. He was only doing his job.”

“And if it had been my body or Cadge’s they’d found and burned to ash without a

fucking word? What then, huh? Would it still be okay?”

“Of course not,” Red said in a huff.

“Why not? What makes either of us better than Joe? He was a good man, with a lot of

friends, and he damn well deserved a more respectful end than he got.”

“I think this conversation is better suited to another time.” Red glared at Teague until

he had no choice but to shut up.

“Fine, but this isn’t over.”

“Understood.” Red faced his men. “Is there anything else?”

The meaty one slid a sideways glance at Teague before speaking. “There was a message

pinned to the, um, body, sir.” He stepped forward and handed Red an envelope. “We scanned
it for security purposes, but it hasn’t been opened. It’s addressed to your friend.”

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75

“Good,” Red said. “That will be all. You and Samuels can return to your quarters for

now. I’ll call you if you’re needed.” He broke the wax seal on the envelope and peered inside.

“Yes, sir.” The soldiers turned as one and exited the suite.

“Well,” Teague said. “What is it?”

Red sighed and handed over the envelope. “I’m sorry, Teague.”

Teague didn’t like the expression in Red’s eyes as he handed over the envelope. It was a

chilling mix of sympathy and impotent anger -- something he couldn’t remember having
seen on his friend’s face before. Warily, Teague opened the flap on the envelope and pulled
out a glossy sheet of photo paper. He gasped in recognition and stumbled backward until his
ass hit the wall.

His fingers trembled as he stared down at the photo of Kyle. His lover was lying on the

floor of what appeared to be a makeshift jail cell. Kyle’s luminous blue eyes were puffy and
red-rimmed. His sad gaze seemed to plead for help from within the four by six inch picture,
while his stubborn chin jutted up in defiance of whoever had taken the picture.

Cadge’s voice echoed in Teague’s ears, asking over and over again if he was okay, but

Teague couldn’t force his attention away from Kyle’s likeness long enough to answer. The
fact that Kyle looked fine, not a single bruise or scratch visible on his tanned complexion,
scared Teague more than if he’d seen his lover covered in bruises. The implications were
ominous. His guts churning with dread, Teague flipped the photo over. A hastily scrawled
message was printed on the back.

The Manning estate. Dawn

.

Shit

.

Teague glanced at his watch and saw it was already after five. If he left now, he could

get there with a little time to spare before dawn. Without a second thought, he headed for
the door. He was the one responsible for getting Kyle into this mess; it seemed somehow
appropriate that he was the only one who could get him out of it.

“Hey,” Cadge yelled. “Where do you think you’re going?”

Teague stopped and faced his brother, though every fiber of his being screamed for him

to get going. “None of your business, Cadge. Just stay here, where it’s safe.”

“You can’t go,” Red said from where he reclined on the sofa, his expression bland

though his green eyes were penetrating. “It’s a trap.”

“No shit.” Teague snorted. “But what other choice do I have? I can’t just let him rot

there, goddamn it. Who knows what’s being done to him right now as I stand here and let
you waste my time.”

Or what’s already been done

, he silently added.

“Don’t be fucking ridiculous,” Cadge argued. “All you’re going to do is get yourself

killed along with him.”

“That’s a chance I’m willing to take.” Teague turned his back on his brother and his

lifelong friend and reached for the doorknob.

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“You can’t do this.” Cadge grabbed Teague’s forearm and swung him around. “I won’t

let you go off half-cocked.”

“Let me go, Cadge.” Teague jerked his arm, trying to break free of Cadge’s clasp. He’d

forgotten how strong the bastard was.

“Or what?” Cadge’s grip tightened, his fingers biting into Teague’s skin. “You may hate

me for a while but at least you’ll be alive.”

Teague stiffened, his hands balling into fists. He pulled back with his free arm and

swung, his knuckles connecting with bone beneath Cadge’s right eye.

Cadge let go of Teague’s arm, his hand flying to cover the red welt steadily rising on his

cheek. Shock settled over his features as he moved between Teague and the exit. “What the
fuck? You

hit

me!”

“And I’ll do it again, if I have to. I don’t have time for this shit.”

“Go ahead and try it, you little punk.” Cadge’s eyes narrowed. “You caught me by

surprise with the first one. It won’t happen again.”

“Lord save me from stubborn siblings,” Red muttered from behind Teague. “Your

brother’s just trying to protect you, Teague.”

“I don’t need his protection,” Teague muttered through gritted teeth. “I’m leaving, even

if I have to kick both your asses in order to do it.”

“That’ll be the day.”

Teague glanced back over his shoulder at Red. “Fuck you, buddy.” He turned back

around to face Cadge, who’d moved to stand in front of the door. “Move.”

Cadge’s chin lifted. “No.”

“Cadge… Get out of my fucking way. I’m warning you.”

“Don’t do this, Teague.” Cadge exhaled, losing some of his bravado, and his shoulders

sagged. “Please. You’re the only family I have left.”

Teague’s anger drained away in the face of his brother’s concern, but his resolve to go

after Kyle remained the same. He couldn’t

not

go after Kyle, regardless of whether or not he

knowingly walked into a setup “I’m sorry, Cadge. I wish you could understand, but I have to
go. Kyle needs me.”

“You don’t

have

to do anything.” Cadge glanced over Teague’s shoulder, presumably at

Red. “If you’d wait until tomorrow evening, we’d have time to come up with a plan. Red can
arrange for extra backup and we’ll all go and save your little friend.”

Teague bristled at Kyle being called his “little friend,” but he let it slide. “I can’t do that.

He’ll be dead by then, if he isn’t already. I don’t expect you to help me. I can’t leave Kyle
there to suffer, Cadge. I care about him.”

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77

Cadge stared at Teague for what seemed like a long time, probably only a minute, and

finally stepped aside. Teague breathed a sigh of relief, grateful he wouldn’t have to force the
issue. Knowing he might not make it back, he didn’t want to leave on bad terms.

Cadge laid his hand on Teague’s shoulder and squeezed. “Take care of yourself out

there, bro, and bring your boy home. I’d like to meet him.”

Teague squared his shoulders and opened the door. “I plan to.”

* * * * *

Cadge whirled on Red the moment the door closed behind Teague. “Well, what are we

going to do?”

Red lounged against the back of the sofa, nonplussed. “What do you mean? It isn’t like

I can follow him. The sun’s rays aren’t exactly healthy for me, you know.”

“I know there’s something you can do. You aren’t the council’s main regulator for no

reason. There have to be calls you could make or favors you can call in --

something

, damn

it.”

“Why should I?”

Cadge goggled at Red, unable to believe what he was hearing. “Because he’s my brother

and your friend. I would have never let him walk out of here if I hadn’t thought you would
help back him up.”

“If I go against council orders, I’ll lose my job, my livelihood, and probably have a

bounty put out on my head to boot. The council wants Darren alive because they see him as
their last hope of saving your species. If that isn’t enough of a reason for you, Victor has a
seat on the council -- which damn near makes him one of my bosses. I can’t just storm onto
his estate demanding answers. It would be unseemly.”

“Unseemly? Are you fucking

kidding

me? I tell you what. You can take your improper

etiquette, stick it up your ass, and rotate on it. I’m going after my brother.”

“Wait.” Red stood and walked over to Cadge. “There is one option.”

“And?” Cadge asked impatiently. “There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for Teague.”

“If you came forward to the council and accepted your rightful place, I could show just

cause for going against orders and harming a council member. My actions would be seen as
being in the council’s best interests instead of treason.”

Cadge shook his head, feeling like he’d been backed into an unexpected corner. “That’s

what this is about it. Isn’t it? You just want your own fucking way as usual. Fine. You help
Teague, and I’ll come forward to the council. There’s nothing left to go home to anyway.”

Red grabbed Cadge’s head, a hand on either side of his face, and crashed a quick, hard

kiss down over his lips. He was smiling as he pulled back. “You won’t be sorry.” He
backtracked over to the couch, picked up his phone and began dialing.

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“I just hope I live long enough to have regrets,” Cadge murmured to himself, listening

as Red called one person after another and explained the situation. Chances were good that
he’d just signed their death certificates even as he’d bartered his life to save Teague’s.

Whoever had perpetuated the genocide of their kind was still free. There was no way

to know how they would react once a living Daywalker was revealed.

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Chapter Ten

Kyle lay on the cold concrete floor of his prison cell and trembled -- not from the

chilled stone pressing against his skin, but from the pain that rolled through his body in
debilitating waves. His legs’ ability to hold him up had given way hours before after his failed
attempt to fight off the third man who’d come into his cell to feed off him like a leach then
force thick, vile blood down his throat. His stomach burned as if fire was eating him alive
from the inside out. Every muscle in his body spasmed and cramped, going stiff and then
limber, only to repeat the process over and again.

Never in his wildest dreams would he have believed in the existence of such creatures

as the ones who’d come to him in the last twenty-four hours. He didn’t want to put a name
with their scary visages -- the subtle transformation that washed over their features before
fangs appeared and his own consciousness ceased from lack of blood -- but his mind ran
ahead of him and said the word he longed to block.

Vampires

.

During each encounter, he prayed for salvation. After endless hours of torture, he

finally began to hope for death, convinced there was no way for escape and no one to come
to his aid. Life was not a fairytale enriched with suitors riding in to rescue weaklings who
couldn’t summon the strength to save themselves. He was going to die -- slowly and
painfully -- and there was nothing he could do but lay there and drool onto the cement like a
halfwit.

The clink of the cell door being unlocked and opened reached his ears. He tried to turn

his head, only to find his muscles stiff and unresponsive. Though he couldn’t see who had
come in, he called out to them, begging for a respite from the torture. “Please, leave me
alone. I can’t take any more.”

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Soft fingers brushed over Kyle’s hair, followed by damp lips being pressed against his

forehead. Booted feet stepped over his prone body and a man knelt at his side. “Shh, it’s
going to be all right.”

“Darren?” Kyle blinked, not believing his eyes. There before him -- dressed in faded

jeans and a snug white T-shirt over his short and skinny frame -- was his ex-lover. The
gossamer soft, silver-blond hair that Kyle had spent an untold number of hours running his
fingers through was pulled back from Darren’s face and secured in a low ponytail at his nape.
Large hazel eyes stared at Kyle with what looked like concern.

This had to be some sort of trick, a way to make his mind crumble along with his

weakened body. He squeezed his eyes shut, willing the hallucination to vanish and leave him
to die in peace.

“Aren’t you happy to see me?” the hallucination asked in Darren’s mellow voice. “I’m

happy to see you. I missed you, lover.”

* * * * *

Teague moved across the vast grounds of the Manning estate, careful to stay in the

shadows and watch his step. One stomped twig would give away his position. Because
Nightfeeders saw just as well in the dark as he did, this time of night wasn’t much help for
cover as it would’ve been if he’d been trying to break into a human’s home.

He’d already searched the outer exterior of the immense, white mansion once and had

yet to find a way in that wouldn’t bring Victor’s men running. The windows on the first
floor were all locked and made of double-paned glass. He’d probably have more luck with
the upper two floors, but they were beyond his reach, and there was no way he could scale
the walls without some kind of hand or foot holds. There weren’t even any damn trees
within reach of the dwelling.

He was on his second pass -- hoping to spot something he’d missed the first time

around -- when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He tensed and whirled
around, ready for a fight, but everything was exactly the same as it’d been seconds before. A
glance to his right proved him wrong.

A dim light shone through a small, two by three foot window. Silver bars were inlaid

in the glass and backed by a mesh screen. With the window only three feet up from the
ground, Teague had to crouch in order to peer through the glass. The position made him
vulnerable, but he needed to know what was going on.

At first, he didn’t see much of anything -- just stacks of unmarked crates and an

illuminated light bulb swinging from a conduit hanging out of the ceiling. It was definitely a
basement though, as the window seemed to be set high in the wall, near the room’s ceiling.

Shifting a little to the left proved to be more useful. Kyle was lying on his stomach,

facing away from Teague. Kneeling next to him was Darren.

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81

Seeing the Nightfeeder’s hands on Kyle -- the way Kyle lay so still -- caused Teague’s

gums to recede. His canines lowered and stabbed into his bottom lip as his hands fisted at his
sides. Unadulterated rage sifted through his blood stream. He wanted to rend the man to
pieces. He may have saved the worthless piece of shit’s life once, but he could take it away
just as easily.

Was he too late? From his vantage point, it didn’t look good. God forgive him if Kyle

was gone, because the things he wanted to do to those responsible would make the Manson
murders look like child’s play.

Then Darren spoke. His voice drifted to Teague through the glass, muted but

discernable. “I know you’ve been fucking that clubbie, Kyle, but that’s okay. If you’re willing
to work for my forgiveness, I’ll take you back. I want you with me when I challenge the
council and overthrow them. You’re the only one who knows me from before I was given all
this power. You’re the only person I can trust not to betray me.”

“What?” Kyle said, his voice pitched so low Teague could barely hear it. “I don’t

understand. I just want out of here. I want to go home and pretend none of this ever
happened.”

“It’s much too late for that, sweet. Your blood is already tainted. There’s no way to go

back now.”

Fuck

.

Teague’s gut clenched in sorrow. They’d turned him -- eradicating any edge Teague

might have been able to use for their escape. He’d planned to take advantage of the
Nightfeeder’s allergies to the sun in order to spirit Kyle out of the house after daylight. He
would get a nasty sunburn from too much exposure, but it beat the hell out of waiting
around to die. Unfortunately, the fact that Kyle had already been turned hadn’t been figured
into the equation.

Darren continued to speak. “I’ve arranged to have a present for you delivered near

dawn -- the vampire you’ve been fucking. When he arrives, I expect you to kill him. You
must, if you want to be forgiven and take your place by my side.”

Teague’s eyes narrowed in on Darren. He looked harmless enough, almost feminine

with the long silver hair and delicate features, but maybe Red was right about him. It
certainly sounded like he was on a power trip, though the “hybrid thing” still didn’t seem
likely.

“What? I can’t kill anyone, Darren. I won’t. And besides, I don’t know what you’re

talking about.”

“He didn’t tell you.” Darren slapped his thigh and laughed uproariously. “Oh, damn,

that’s priceless. The man you’ve been fucking behind my back, Teague, is a Nightfeeder. In
fact, it was his benevolent donation of blood that made me the unique creature you see
before you tonight. Well, that and the genetics my worthless parents contributed before they
ditched me at that damn orphanage.” Darren frowned and rose to his feet.

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You don’t quite have all your facts straight, asshole

. But the tidbit he’d added about his

parents piqued Teague’s curiosity. Why would he say that unless there was something to
Red’s theory about him being a half-breed Nightfeeder?

“You’re lying,” Kyle said. “Teague isn’t like you.”

“Believe what you like. Either way, you will kill him, or you won’t live to regret

betraying me. It’s as simple as that.”

“I’m only a piece of ass to him. He won’t come.”

“For your sake, you better pray that’s not true.”

With profound relief, Teague watched Darren exit the cell and lock it behind him, the

other man slowly trotting up the steps as if he had nothing better to do once he left the
room. He’d seen more than enough to know he didn’t want to hear any more. He couldn’t
stand the dejected tone of Kyle’s voice or the sight of him lying so still on the floor, like his
spirit was broken and he was just waiting for death to claim him.

The man inside was not the same Darren that Teague remembered. He’d been a little

high strung, from what Teague could recall, but he’d seemed like an okay guy. That certainly
wasn’t the case now.

Imagining what Kyle had been through in the last twenty-four hours tore him apart.

He didn’t want Kyle to be at Darren’s mercy a minute longer.

Breaking the window to reach Kyle wouldn’t be too hard. There was probably an

alarm; he felt sure of that. Hopefully by the time they came running down the stairs, he
would have Kyle out of the window and on their way across the grounds.

Since the sun was getting ready to rise, the Nightfeeders wouldn’t risk following him.

Without a doubt, they would come after them once the sun set that evening, but he would
worry about that later.

One thing at a time.

Unfortunately, depending on how far along Kyle’s transformation was, the penetrating

rays of the sun could be detrimental for him as well. Teague had to shield him, just in case,
although he had no idea what he’d find to use, if anything.

Chances of both of them making it home seemed to lessen with every passing breath.

The odds were stacked against them and growing stronger with every new obstacle.

Reaching into his side pocket, Teague pulled out his phone and shot off a text message

to his brother, letting Cadge know where he and Kyle were in case anything bad went down.
If something happened to him, he wanted to make sure there was still someone out there
who would try to get Kyle out. Although he didn’t like to consider that he might not make it
out, he had to be prepared for any contingency. Kyle’s freedom depended on it.

Teague tore off a chunk of his T-shirt, wrapped it around his fist, and punched out the

glass in the window. The mesh screen welded inside the window prevented any of the larger
chunks from falling inside the room and causing a racket he couldn’t afford. Sharp fragments

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clung to his fist, several of the jagged ends cutting into his knuckles through the cloth as he
brushed away the remaining glass. Calling on every ounce of strength he had, he gripped the
two center bars and pulled. His hands stung from clutching the metal so tightly, but the
silver didn’t burn him as quickly as it would a Nightfeeder. To his delight, the bars weren’t
set very deep within the frame and gave away easily. Whoever had installed them must have
been counting on the metal alone to scare away possible escapees. The remaining two bars
quickly followed the first set and were tossed onto the dead grass beside him. Since the mesh
screen seemed to be welded from the inside, and the openings were too small for him to get
his fingers through in order to get a good grip on it, Teague took went with the easiest
solution. He sat back on his ass and kicked the damn thing out. Unlike the glass, the screen
clattered to the floor with a loud crash and rattled.

Feet first, he slipped through the window and landed like a cat. Unless the basement

was soundproofed from the rest of the house, there was no alarm. Striding toward the cell,
Teague did a quick mental inventory of his body. Aside from the burns on his palms and a
few minor cuts, he was fine. However, he must’ve cut himself coming through the window
because the skin between his shoulder blades stung and itched from a deep gash quickly
mending itself closed. He’d have to recheck the window for sharp edges on their way out
before he pushed Kyle through the narrow frame.

“Who’s there?” Kyle croaked, his voice thick with fear. “Either kill me and put me out

of my misery, or just leave me the hell alone.”

“Shh. It’s just me,” Teague said, testing the door. It didn’t give an inch. “I’ve come to

get you out of here, but I need you to stay quiet.”

“Sure, you are. Just like Darren was here, too. I’m losing my fucking mind -- that’s

what happening” Kyle snorted, though he didn’t move. His voice lowered to barley more
than a whisper, as if he was talking to himself more than to Teague. “There’s no such thing as
vampires. I’m not locked in a cage. I’m safe at home and dreaming all this bullshit. It’ll all
disappear when I wake up. None of it’s real.

None of it

.”

Teague didn’t take the time to argue as he pulled out his knife and set to work on the

lock. If Kyle wanted to believe he was crazy or dreaming, and that helped him hold it
together until they were safe, then all the better. Regardless of how strongly he wanted to
rush to Kyle’s side and soothe away his fears, there was no time for it.

Just when he was sure the door wasn’t going to budge -- that his allergic reaction to

prolonged exposure to the silver was going to make his fingers swell beyond usability -- the
lock popped open with a quiet click. With a sigh of relief, he swung the door open.

An alarm wailed through the house in ear-splitting, staccato bursts. Dust fell from the

ceiling as feet pounded on the boards overhead. Teague rushed across the cell, slid his hands
under Kyle’s legs and shoulders, and heaved him into his arms. The pungent scent of dried
sweat, blood, and fear wafted from the dirt-smeared remnants of Kyle’s shirt and pants. His

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bare feet were covered in grime, the upper slope covered in large crusty drops of cast-off
blood.

“What are you doing?” For an instant, Kyle’s head lolled backward, and then he

stiffened his neck and held his head up. His swollen, red rimmed eyes stared at Teague with
accusation, before he squeezed his eyelids closed tight. Tears slid from beneath his lashes as
he began to chant under his breath. “Not there. Not there. None of this is real.”

Fear that Kyle’s mind was truly slipping settled into the pit of Teague’s gut as he

hurried to the window. “Come on, Kyle. Stay with me, love. I know you’re hurting, but I
may need your help to get us both out of here.”

He stopped under the window and jostled Kyle around into a better position. Briefly,

he recalled wanting to check the window for sharp edges before he pushed Kyle out, but he
couldn’t manage to do that now. It was all he could do just to maneuver Kyle around.

Holding Kyle upright by his armpits, Teague lifted him and began the excruciatingly

long process of working Kyle’s dead weight through the window. Taking extra care to
prevent Kyle from being cut on whatever sharp object had slashed his own back, Teague
slowly eased Kyle headfirst through the window.

“Hey,” Kyle screeched as his head butted into the upper framing of the window.

“Watch it.”

“I’m doing the best I can, your highness.” Teague smiled and continued to push Kyle

outside. Kyle’s ability to bitch about a little bump to his head lightened Teague’s concern
over his mental health. If the man was lucid enough to complain, he was probably going to
be all right -- provided they didn’t get caught escaping and they avoided sunbathing on the
way back to the hotel.

He didn’t know what the hell was going on upstairs, but from all the shouting and

banging around it sounded like one hell of a fight. Whatever it was, he was grateful for the
distraction it provided them.

He strained and finagled, twisted and changed the angle with which he held onto Kyle

as the other man slipped through the window one interminable bit at a time. Because Kyle
had little to no control over his muscles -- which were pliant one minute and inflexible the
next, thanks to being caught somewhere at the crossroads between humanity and being
reborn as a Nightfeeder -- it took Teague three times longer than it should have before Kyle
was outside. Only the dirty bare soles of his feet hung over the inside lip of the window
frame.

“Kyle, do you think you can hold your legs stiff for me?”

“I don’t know. I’ll try.”

“All right. If you can keep your knees from buckling, I should be able to give you a

little shove and get your legs out of the way so I can come through the window behind you.”

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Teague lifted Kyle’s feet above the frame and said, “Here we go,” and pushed. Kyle’s legs
bowed and then held firm, allowing Teague to push him forward several inches.

Teague braced his hands on the window ledge and raised himself up. Something cut

into his palm and stung like a bitch. He tried to ignore it as he leveraged himself higher, but
the more weight he put on his hands, the deeper the barb dug into his flesh.

Shit

.

He dropped back down to the ground, raised his hand, and saw a small jagged hunk of

glass sticking out of the meaty part of his palm beneath the base of his thumb. Gripping the
edge with the thumb and forefinger of his other hand, he pulled the shard out and cast it
aside. He hoisted himself back up into the window and propelled himself out. Kyle grunted
as Teague’s upper body landed half on, half off his calves.

One glance at the sky and Teague knew they needed to hurry. The red and orange hues

of impending dawn lightened the horizon.

He rose up on his knees and hunkered over Kyle. “You okay? We still have a little way

to go before we’re out of the woods.”

“Yeah. Yeah, get me the hell out of here.”

Teague got his feet underneath him and was preparing to lift Kyle when a

bloodcurdling screech tore through the air. Without thought, Teague twisted around in time
to watch Darren tumble down the lower half of the stairs, ass over teakettle. A tall shifter --
identified as one of the lycan breeds by its doggish snout and the thick black hair visible on
every inch of body space not covered by army surplus pants and the olive green T-shirt
stretched across its massive shoulders and chest -- ran down the stairs after Darren, carrying
a black synthetic stock rifle with a wicked bayonet attached to the blue steel barrel.

Teague sucked in a shocked breath of air as the shifter stabbed Darren in the gut and

pinned him to floor. Although Darren howled in anguish, it was nothing compared to what
would have happened had the blade been made from genuine silver, instead of stainless steel.
Being stabbed wouldn’t kill a Nightfeeder, or any other creature, but it had to hurt like a
bitch. Even though he thought Darren deserved to suffer for what he’d done to Kyle, Teague
gave a sympathetic wince as he watched the other man squirm in agony.

“Teague, what’s happening? Who’s screaming?”

Teague whispered a furious “shh” but the damage was done. When he glanced back to

see if Kyle had been heard, the shifters gaze had already swung their way and seemed to be
sizing them up with cruel intent.

Teague rose to his feet, picked Kyle up, slung him over his shoulders as if he weighed

no more than a bag of potatoes, and set off across the yard. With one arm securing Kyle’s legs
to his chest, he ran.

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Kyle’s upper body bounced against Teague’s back as Kyle bitched and demanded

answers. “Goddamn it, tell me what’s going on! It sounded like someone was being gutted
back there.”

“You don’t want to know.” Teague thought Kyle was a little too close to the truth for

comfort. The man had been through enough. He didn’t need to know that someone he’d
once cared about -- the same man who’d arranged to have him kidnapped -- was being
butchered as they ran hell bent for leather toward the copse of trees where Teague had
parked Cadge’s truck. He was damn thankful he’d had the foresight to snatch it out of the
parking lot, instead of driving his bike.

“Don’t treat me like child, Teague,” Kyle stuttered out as his diaphragm repeatedly

slammed into Teague’s shoulder. “I deserve to know what’s going on.”

“You do,” Teague said. “But not right now. Just hang on, and shut up.”

Teague rounded the side of the house and stalled. Half a dozen shifters stood in the

yard, all of them decked out in the same army fatigues as the one in the basement had worn.
Two Nightfeeders Teague recognized as part of Victor’s entourage were handcuffed and
being led toward two large black Chevy Suburbans parked on the lawn in front of the
mansion. Not knowing what else to do, he darted around the corner and leaned against the
building, letting the house hold a little of the cumbersome weight he was carrying.

Just what the fuck were they trapped in the middle of? There hadn’t been a war

between the lycans and the Nightfeeders in centuries.

“Why are we going backward?” Kyle asked. “Talk to me.”

“You’re not exactly a lightweight, you know. I just need a minute to catch my breath --

that’s all.”

Sixty seconds is about all the time I have

.

The air whooshing in and out his lungs, Teague tried to figure out how he was going to

get around the band of lycans in order to get to his vehicle. His gaze flitted to the sky and the
flaming ball of orange just beginning to peek over the horizon.

Fuck, Kyle was as good as pulp if he didn’t move. Now

.

The lycans seemed to be rounding up their men and those they’d hijacked from inside,

but he couldn’t stand there like a pussy and wait for them to clear out. There was no time.

He peeked around the corner, trying to get a better idea of what was happening, and

saw the shifter from the basement trotting down the porch steps with Darren slung over his
shoulder. The way Darren’s arms hung limply and his absolute lack of movement suggested
the man was either unconscious or dead. From the blood spreading down the front and back
of the shifter’s shirt, Teague guessed Darren was only unconscious. If there was still blood
left in his veins, he was probably alive. The shifter looked up, his dark gaze connecting with
Teague’s, and Teague jerked his head back. He heard someone call his name, had a split

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87

second to freak out and wonder how the hell they knew who he was, and then realized it
was Cadge’s voice.

Teague chanced another look, a large part of him convinced his ears were playing

tricks on him, and saw Cadge running his way, with a large solarweave blanket tucked under
his arm.

“Jesus Christ, bro. I’ve been looking everywhere for you two.” Cadge thrust the blue

blanket at Teague.

He caught it midair, threw it open with a flick of his wrist, and flung it over his

shoulder to cover Kyle. “Sorry if I didn’t come running when I heard all the screams. After
all, I should have equated a fight with you.” Teague rolled his eyes and slapped Cadge on the
arm. “I’m damn glad to see you, shithead.”

“Whatever. You know you want to be me when you grow up.” Cadge pivoted and

headed toward the vehicles and the shifters.

“Keep dreaming, old man.” Teague laughed as he followed after Cadge. He eyed the

shifters with distrust as they piled into one of the two SUVs, their prisoners packed in the
rear and chained to the mesh, metal net between the backseat and cargo hold.

“What in hell is going on?” Teague whispered to Cadge.

“That’s what I’ve been asking,” Kyle whined.

“Hush,” Teague said, patting Kyle on the ass. He quirked a brow at Cadge, while they

walked toward the leftover SUV. “So?”

“Well, the lycan help is courtesy of Red.” Cadge opened the back door and held it. “The

windows are tinted with a UV filter, so we should be good to go as far as your boy there is
concerned. All the same, I would use the blanket as a backup.”

“Yeah, I will.” Teague laid Kyle down on the seat, resisted the urge to lean down and

kiss him on the forehead, and instead bundled him up like a mummy inside the solarweave
blanket. “Just stay here, love, and keep the blanket over you. We’ll be somewhere safe soon.”

“All right,” Kyle mumbled. “But you better not be shitting me.”

“I’m not. Promise.” He patted Kyle’s thigh through the blanket and slammed the door

shut.

Cadge grinned at Teague and mouthed, “Love?”

“Suck it, asshole.”

With a hoot of laughter, Cadge slid behind the wheel, while Teague crossed in front of

the SUV and climbed into the passenger seat. He buckled up and looked across the console at
his brother. “Aren’t you worried about the others figuring out what we are?” It wasn’t as if
they could pose as Nightfeeders when daylight was only a blink away.

“It doesn’t matter anymore.” Cadge turned over the ignition, dropped the gearshift

down into drive and did a donut on the dew slick grass.

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“Excuse me? Why not?”

Cadge glanced at the rearview mirror, and presumably at Kyle in the backseat. “We’ll

talk about it later.”

Shit

. Teague leaned his head back against the headrest as they pulled out onto the

paved lane and wondered what else lay in store for them.

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Chapter Eleven

“Don’t worry,” Red said for the fifteenth time. “Kyle

will

wake up. Just remember that

when he does, he’s going to want blood and a lot of it. The pain will go away after he feeds.”

“He’ll be fine,” Teague said, although everything inside him screamed the opposite. It

was after seven o’clock; almost two hours since the sun had set. Kyle should have been
awake by now.

“Everything,” Cadge said, gripping Teague in a tight hug that pulled him up on the tips

of his toes, “will be fine.”

“It will,” Red agreed. He tugged on Cadge’s shirtsleeve. “We need to go now, if we’re

going to make it to the council meeting I’ve arranged to declare the official charges against
Darren and the Nightfeeders he’d conned into helping him, not to mention announcing you
to the board. Even without the drive, we have a bloody long night ahead of us.”

“All right.” Cadge turned to face Teague. “Well, you have the number to reach me. Of

course, you’re welcome to join us at the council’s headquarters in Virginia, if you change
your mind about staying behind to look after your boy.”

“Definitely,” Red added, with a nod. “I’m sure the council members will be thrilled to

have you.”

“I bet,” Teague said with a snort. “Victor’s going to pop a gasket when he finds out his

seat is about to be usurped. I can’t believe I was wrong about him.” He shook his head. “I was
so sure he was involved.”

“Well, I’m damn glad you weren’t right. Darren may be screaming his head off to the

contrary, but there’s no way Victor was involved with Darren’s power trip.”

“I guess not.” Something nagged at the back of Teague consciousness, but never fully

formed. Victor’s numerous alibis during all the attacks, added with his steadfast argument
that he’d only kept Darren around because of the novelty of owning a hybrid -- who could

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partially transform into a Gorgonopsian shifter -- didn’t quite cement his innocence in
Teague’s mind. However, there was no way to prove otherwise.

For the moment, Teague had enough on his plate without challenging Victor on the

two attacks Teague knew he’d been a part of. Red and the others would just have to find out
what a manipulative bastard Victor was on their own. In the end, Victor would more than
likely be booted off the council to make way for Cadge; that would have to be punishment
enough for his crimes against humanity.

Teague clapped Red on the back as he walked his friend and brother out into the

hallway. “You take care of my brother.”

Red slid a lustful glance at Cadge. “You don’t have to worry about that. He’ll be

received with open arms.”

Teague had a feeling Red was hinting at more than just the council’s reception of a

Daywalker into their fold. Whatever, if anything, was going on between Red and Cadge, he
didn’t want to know about it. “Yeah, well. Have a safe trip, and thanks again for the use of
your hotel suite. I’ll clear out as soon as Kyle is up and on his feet.”

“Take your time. The entire floor is booked through the rest of the month.”

With a final wave, the men stepped into the elevator and the doors closed behind

them. Teague stared off into space, trying to figure out how he would explain things to Kyle
when he regained consciousness, until a great sobbing howl filled the corridor.

Fuck, Kyle is waking up

.

Teague darted back inside the hotel suite, grabbed two bags of O positive out of the

mini-fridge, and ran for the bedroom. Kyle was curled up in the fetal position atop the bare
mattress, the white hotel sheets bunched up at the foot of the bed. His arms were wrapped
around his bare midsection directly above the waistband of snug, navy boxer briefs. He
trembled like a newborn babe, a string of pleas and curses spilling from his lips.

Teague hurried over to the bed, leaned over Kyle and brushed the damp hair from his

face. “I’m here, Kyle. Everything’s going to be all right.”

Please, God, let that be the truth

.

Kyle’s head rolled back and he stared up at Teague with red rimmed eyes. Fat pink

tears rolled down his face. “T --” His voice wavered as he clutched his stomach and rocked.
“It hurts.

Please

. Make it stop.”

Teague slid onto the bed behind Kyle and pulled him into his lap. With Kyle’s back

resting against his chest, Teague tilted Kyle’s head back and forced his finger into his mouth.

Kyle jerked his head away. “What the fuck are you doing? Now is not the time to try

hit on me, asshole.”

“Just open your mouth.”

“You’re not sticking anything in my mouth, so don’t even fucking think about it.” Kyle

hissed and squeezed his eyes shut.

“Are you okay?”

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“Just peachy. My insides feel like they’ve come to life and are trying to claw their way

out of my body, but I’m just fucking peachy.”

Teague cringed.

Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer

. “I’m sorry. I’m not a very

good nursemaid. Would you just open your mouth and let me see your teeth?”

“Why?”

“Just do it, Kyle. It’s important.”

“No. Just leave me alone.”

Goddamn it

. Teague forced Kyle’s head back, held him still with one hand under his

chin, and forced his finger into his mouth. Kyle’s teeth immediately sank into the digit. He
swore and yanked his finger out of Kyle’s mouth, but that one little bite told him everything
he needed to know.

Kyle’s fangs had dropped.

Teague lifted one of the bags of blood and held it to Kyle’s mouth. “I need you to bite

into this and swallow.”

Kyle turned his face, pressing his cheek into Teague’s chest. “No. I won’t drink that.”

With a sigh, Teague nudged Kyle’s face over until his mouth was once against pressing

against the bag. “You have to. It’s what you’re body needs.”

“I don’t --” Kyle grabbed his stomach and whimpered.

“Quit acting like a child. If you drink the blood, it will make the pain go away.”

“Bullshit,” Kyle panted, sweat beading on his face. “That crap is the reason I’m in this

shape. What the hell is wrong with me?” He gasped and rocked forward, groaning against the
pain. “No, don’t answer that. I don’t want to know.”

Kyle tried to swat Teague’s hand away from his face, but Teague held tight and kept

the bagged blood where it was. “Please, love, just drink the blood. I wouldn’t give you
something that would hurt you. I swear it.”

“Fine. Just give me the fucking blood.” He yanked the bag out of Teague hands. “I’ll try

anything at this point.”

Teague watched over Kyle’s shoulder as the other man bit into the bag and began to

suck. A deep groan, reminiscent of the noises Kyle made when he came, joined with the
sound of slurping. The thick red liquid quickly disappeared until nothing remained but a
collapsed pouch with a few spindly red veins running through the clear plastic.

“Mmm,” Kyle moaned, licking the last drop of blood from the small perforations his

teeth had made in the bag.

Teague handed the second bag to Kyle. “Drink this one too.” He needn’t have bothered

suggesting it because Kyle dropped the empty bag and bit into the second one with another
lusty moan as he drained the contents.

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A trickle of blood slid down Kyle’s chin as he finished. He wiped his chin with the

back of his hand and then stared down at the crimson stain smeared across his skin.

After a minute passed, Teague asked, “You okay?”

“What’s wrong with me? Why the fuck did that taste good?”

“You may as well get used to it. Some of the more rare blood types taste better, but it’s

all somewhat the same. Just look at it like a very expensive protein shake you’re going to be
sucking down for a long time to come.”

“What?” Kyle grabbed his stomach and bent double. “Oh, fuck. The cramps are coming

back. Do you have any more?”

Shit

. How much blood was Kyle going to need? There were only one or maybe two

bags left in the mini-fridge. “All right. Just let me scoot out from underneath you, and I’ll go-
-”

“No!” Kyle pleaded, his fingers biting into Teague’s knees on either side of him. “This

really fucking hurts. Don’t leave me.”

“I just need to go into the other room and--”

“There’s something really wrong with me, isn’t there? Oh,” Kyle cried again. “Please,

stay. I don’t want to be alone.”

Teague considered what he should do and made his choice. He’d never shared blood

before, but if there was anyone he’d willingly open a vein for, it was Kyle. “Here,” he said,
holding out his wrist. “You need more blood. You’re body’s starving without it. Just take
from me.”

I can always drink what’ in the fridge

.

s

“What? No, I can’t bite you. That’s just…wrong.”

“It isn’t wrong if I’m offering it to you. Besides, unless you’re willing to let me leave the

room, this is your only choice. You’re body’s going to keep protesting until you give it what
you need. You didn’t sprout those pretty new canine teeth for nothing.”

“Huh?” Kyle twisted his neck around to look at Teague. “What are you talking about?

My teeth are the same as they’ve always been.”

“I know you must feel the change, so save the denial for someone you haven’t already

bitten.” Teague wagged his finger at Kyle.

“All right, so two of my teeth feel a little more pointy than usual. They must have been

filed down while I was passed out.”

“Why would I want to file your teeth? What sense would that make?”

“Because you want me to think I’m a fucking vampire, that’s why. You’re part of

whatever the hell is going on with me, and I want to know why you’re doing this right now!
Why are you fucking with my head? Do you get some kind of perverse thrill out of making
me think I’m losing my mind?”

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93

“I’m sorry, love. I wish I could say everything you’ve been through has all been some

kind of sad practical joke, but that’s just not the case.”

A pained look passed over Kyle’s features. “I don’t believe you.”

“I know, and I’m sorry for that too, but there’s nothing I can do to convince you right

now. You’re going to have to take me on my word and drink. Afterward, I’ll tell you
whatever you want to know.”

Kyle lowered his head, as if in deep thought. Teague heard him panting, the fast and

shallow respiration of someone in pain.

“Come on, Kyle. It isn’t like you didn’t already suck down two bags. What’s a little

more blood between friends?”

Kyle lifted his head and met Teague’s gaze. “Will it hurt?”

“No, I don’t think it’ll hurt to use your teeth, although it might feel a little weird at

first.”

“Not me. You.” Kyle fiddled with the light blue bedspread, picking at a loose thread. “It

hurt me when the others bit down.”

“Oh.” Fuck, he was an idiot. He should have taken Kyle’s experience at the hands of the

Nightfeeders into consideration. Here he was getting impatient with someone who’d just
been traumatized. “No, it won’t hurt me. The circumstances are completely different here. It
might sting a little, but that should be it. I’m not really sure what it’ll feel like, to tell you the
truth.”

“Why?”

Teague shrugged. “I’ve never let anyone feed from me.”

“So, you’re admitting you’re a vampire?”

“I suppose you could call me that. My brother and I are the last of the Daywalkers, one

of two different breeds of vampires. The men who kidnapped you were Nightfeeders -- a
whole different subspecies. We’re like night and day, literally.”

“So which am I?”

“You’re a Nightfeeder.”

“Oh.” Kyle quieted and seemed to consider that. He started to say something else, but

Teague butted in.

“Enough stalling. Lean back here and let me feed you. We can talk more after.”

“That sounds like a really cheesy porno line, you know.”

Teague grinned and wagged his eyebrows. “I know.”

Kyle slowly leaned back against Teague, as if it pained him to move. “I swear, only you

could think of your dick right now.”

“You’re the one who brought up pornography.” Teague tried to soothe Kyle by running

his hands up and down the outer slope of Kyle’s arms. “Is the pain going away any?”

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“Some. It’s still there, but the cramps are getting further apart.”

“That’s good. Maybe you just need a little more to tide you over. Red didn’t say how

much you would need to make the worst of it pass.”

“Who’s Red?”

Could that possibly be jealousy he heard in Kyle’s voice?

Doubtful

. “He’s a friend, and

not someone who’s important right now.”

“Whatever. Let’s just get this over with.”

“Well, you don’t have to make it sound like you’re getting ready to suck down on

someone who has the bubonic plague. You know, in my culture, it’s an honor to let someone
drink from your vein. You should feel special.”

“If this is what being special entails, I think I’ll take normal and boring.” Kyle wiggled

his ass back against Teague, trying to get comfortable.

“Stop that, or my wrist won’t be the only thing you end up sucking.”

“You wish.”

Oh yes, yes I do

. With a sigh, Teague raised his arm and wrapped it around Kyle, the

inside of his wrist facing Kyle’s mouth. “Drink up.”

“What do I do?” Kyle asked, taking Teague’s forearm in hand.

“Do you see the veins running through my wrist?”

“Yeah.”

“Aim and bite. That’s all there is to it.”

“Oookay.” Kyle brought Teague’s wrist closer to his mouth. He held it there for a

minute, not moving, and then finally Teague felt Kyle’s tongue tentatively touch his skin. He
shivered. The blunt edge of Kyle’s front teeth followed, as if he was trying to find just the
right placement. Just when Teague was sure Kyle was getting ready to chicken out, Kyle bit
down.

Teague flung his head back and squeezed his eyes shut against the incredible rush of

desire coursing through his body. He fought the urge to hump Kyle’s ass as little moans and
whimpers vibrated his wrist and went straight to his dick. The sharp sting of Kyle’s teeth in
his skin and the slow and steady pulls of his lips drawing Teague’s essence into his mouth
created a whirlwind of sensations.

For an instant, Teague regretted that Kyle was only feeding from him for sustenance

and not because of a more intimate connection between them, but nothing could be done
about it. He refused to feel cheated out of the close bond that should have been in place
before he shared this part of himself.

Intending to lean forward and watch Kyle feed, Teague sat up and was immediately hit

by a wave of lightheadedness. With a shock, he realized he was on the verge of letting Kyle
take too much. He tried to pull his arm away, but Kyle had a damn strong grip on him. “Kyle,

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95

love, that’s enough. You need to let go now.” When Kyle showed no sign of slowing down,
Teague jerked back on his arm and severed the connection.

“Ow,” Kyle whined. “What’d you do that for? You almost yanked my teeth out.”

“I told you to let go. You’ve had enough.”

“Oh, sorry.” Kyle wiggled. “Are you okay? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“I’ll be fine. Just sit still for a few minutes, until the worst of the dizziness passes.”

“All right.” Kyle leaned back against Teague’s chest and squirmed until he’d made

himself comfortable between Teague’s thighs, with his head resting against one of Teague’s
shoulders. “Thank you, Teague. I feel better now.”

“I’m glad.” Teague rested his head against the bed’s headboard and shut his eyes, trying

to will his body into cooperating so he could move. He’d feel better after he’d drained a pint
or so of fridge blood. When the vertigo passed, Teague opened his eyes and glanced down at
Kyle.

Kyle’s eyes were closed, his lips slightly parted in sleep. Teague shook his head and

wrapped his arms Kyle, holding him close while he had the chance. After the blood had a
chance to work through Kyle’s system, he would wake up as good as new -- a changed man
but alive and well.

Teague’s fear that Kyle wouldn’t pull through his transformation slowly bled away

until only one emotion stood out in stark clarity above all else. He didn’t know how or when
it had happened, but he was in love with Kyle. Crazy, impossible, terrifying love the likes of
which he’d never even thought himself capable of. The tender emotion unfurled inside him
until there was nothing he could do but accept it.

I’m in love with Kyle

.

Nuzzling Kyle’s hair and holding him close, Teague wallowed in the burgeoning

warmth of his emotions. He could scarcely believe he’d gone and done it -- he’d finally fallen
in love with someone he could see building a life with. He would’ve rejoiced, if he wasn’t
scared shitless about it.

As soon as he came clean and explained what he’d done, unraveled the labyrinth of

secrets and lies that led to their hookup and beyond, Kyle wouldn’t want to have anything to
do with him.

* * * * *

Kyle woke up feeling refreshed. Energy pulsed through his body and urged him to get

up even before he opened his eyes, as if someone had shot him full of caffeine while he’d lain
sleeping. He opened his eyes and held his breath, waiting for the excruciating cramps in his
midsection to begin anew. Nothing happened -- no mysterious muscle cramps or stomach
pain returned.

Teague’s cure-all must have worked.

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Amanda Young

The sudden remembrance of what he’d done -- the coppery taste of blood sliding down

his throat -- caused Kyle’s stomach to jolt and roll. After a few long, deep breaths the worst
of the nausea passed, but he still felt sick. He’d drunk blood -- real, honest to goodness,
blood. What kind of freak of nature did that make him?

Like the slam of a prison door, he blocked that thought before his brain could supply

an answer.

I don’t want to think about it

.

He sat up and glanced around the hotel room. His vision seemed sharper than before,

everything somehow clearer, although he’d always had perfect eyesight. There was a blond
armoire, dresser, and nightstand. A digital alarm clock on the nightstand blazed nine o’clock
in bright red letters, but he had no way of knowing whether that was a.m. or p.m. A closed
door was directly ahead of him and another to his right, the latter a bathroom. To his left was
a window, a heavy gray curtain blocking out any hint of whether it was night of day. All
things considered, it actually wasn’t a bad room. The light blue and slate gray color scheme
didn’t seem nearly as tacky as half the places he’d stayed in for occasional, out of town
business meetings.

Idly, he wondered which hotel he was in. It seemed like a safer topic than one of a

hundred others he didn’t want to ponder.

There was a vague recollection of Teague carrying him through a room with marble

flooring, and then into an elevator that made him feel seasick, but that was about it. He
must’ve conked during the ride and been totally out of it when they arrived. His face
warmed as he relived the way Teague had carried him around as if he were helpless. Under
other circumstances, he never would have allowed that.

Kyle didn’t know whether to be relieved or upset that Teague wasn’t in sight. He had a

million questions, but he wasn’t sure he was ready to hear the answers to any of them.
Although he would’ve liked to build a home on the shore of denial and permanently take up
residence, he was pretty sure he already knew what Teague would say about his biggest
concern.

Tentatively, he moved his tongue around the inside of his mouth, feeling it out.

Everything seemed normal, except for two small callous-like bumps behind his canine teeth.
He pushed against one of them and jerked his tongue back, expecting something to pop out
and stab him. Nothing did.

Relieved, and yet more confused than ever, he poked and prodded while thinking

about Teague, and what the other man had allowed him to do.

Feeding -- that’s what Teague had called it -- had been weird but oddly sexual. Blood

and sex were not two words he would have ever paired together before, but he had to admit
that what he’d done with Teague had turned him on. He could still smell the musky scent of
Teague’s skin all around him, taste the slightly salty flavor of his former lover’s flesh, and the
bitter tang of Teague’s blood gushing into his mouth.

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97

The backside of Kyle’s gums itched. He licked them, prodding the small bumps behind

his teeth, and thought about how strange it was to drink Teague’s blood. It wasn’t as if he
hadn’t swallowed bodily fluids before, but giving head and getting a mouthful of cum wasn’t
exactly the same as sinking his teeth through skin and muscle and gulping down a pint of O
negative -- or whichever blood type Teague was.

What would it feel like to bite Teague during sex, for them to be connected at both

mouth and ass?

Underneath his tongue, the depressions behind his teeth bulged out and then an extra

pair of teeth descending behind his human canines. He rolled his tongue away from them,
but not fast enough. One of his new teeth scraped the tip of his tongue. Teague’s essence
burst over Kyle’s taste buds, as tart and sweet as fine merlot.

Part of him still felt like it was wrong to enjoy the flavor so much, but Teague tasted so

damn good. He almost pricked his tongue again, just to get another sample, but his teeth
retreated as quickly as they’d dropped.

Fuck, that was weird. He was going to have to hunt Teague down and get him to

explain how the teeth thing worked, among other things.

Kyle threw his legs over the side of the bed and stood. He yawned and scratched his

bare chest, amazed at how well he felt after everything that he’d been through. Being
drugged and kidnapped, finding out vampires were real, and then repeatedly being bitten
and force-fed blood, over and over again. By all rights, he should have been dead -- or
insane -- but he wasn’t. Teague had come riding to his rescue like some mythical knight bent
on slaying the evildoers. It was sweet, and so much more than Kyle had ever expected. He’d
thought for sure he was a goner, and then when Darren had come in and started threatening
him…

Oh, wait -- Darren

. Fuck, how had he forgotten about Darren? At the time, he’d been

so disoriented, weak, and terrified by the paralysis of his muscles that he’d thought he was
hallucinating. But if vampires existed, and Teague had really been there, it stood to reason he
hadn’t imagined Darren’s presence inside his cell. He tried to recall exactly what Darren had
said to him. Something about Teague and a present.

No, that isn’t right

. He knew Kyle was

sleeping with Teague, and that he was going to have Teague delivered as some kind of
present.

Was that how Teague had found him?

Kyle ambled into the bathroom, leaned over the sink, and stared at his reflection in the

mirror. His eyes were bloodshot, blond wisps of hair stuck up all over his head, but he
thought he looked pretty good for someone who’d been knocking on death’s doorstep not too
long ago. While combing his memory, he turned on the faucet taps and splashed some
lukewarm water on his face. A tube of toothpaste and a single toothbrush sat on the back of
the sink. He bypassed the brush and grabbed the green tube. After squirted some of the green
and white striped paste on his pointer finger, he finger brushed his teeth and rinsed with tap

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Amanda Young

water. Watching in the mirror, he bared his teeth and turned his head this way and that.
Everything looked normal, although it wasn’t. Using one of the plush white hand towels
from the rack beside the mirror, he dried his face and neck and wiped toothpaste foam from
the corner of his mouth.

He had to remember what Darren said. It felt like it was important.

A knock sounded on the doorframe,

rat-a-tat-tat

, and Kyle glanced over to see Teague

standing in the open doorway, dressed in a pair of worn button fly jeans, the top button
undone, and nothing else. Jesus, he looked good enough to eat.

“Hey.” Kyle smiled and fought down the urge to blush, his inner censor pinging off the

radar at his mental reference to eating Teague.

“Hey, yourself,” Teague said. “You look like you’re feeling better.”

Kyle nodded. “I am. Now, I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on. I think you owe

me some answers.”

“Yeah,” Teague frowned and wiped his hand over the stubbled surface of his jaw. “I

guess I do. Do you want to go back into the bedroom, or would you be more comfortable in
the sitting room?”

Kyle shrugged and dropped the damp hand towel on the sink. “It doesn’t matter.”

Teague turned, walked back into the bedroom, and Kyle followed. When Teague chose

to sit on the edge of the mattress, Kyle scooted back against the headboard and folded his legs
underneath him.

Teague stared at Kyle, silent. He found it strangely endearing that Teague could fuck

him, even going so far as sharing blood with him, and yet look so nervous about talking. It
was also frustrating, because so much had happened that Kyle didn’t know where to begin.

“So…” he finally said. “Tell me about this blood thing.”

“What do you want to know?”

“I don’t know -- everything. Why do I need it? How often am I going to need it?

Where can I get those little bags you brought in here earlier? Oh, and what time is it? I
mean, I know it’s after nine, but is that nine at night or in the morning? And what day is it? I
know I was abducted Monday night but after that, things just kind of bleed together. Oh,
fuck, work. I need to call the office and try to figure out some kind of excuse for why I
haven’t been in. Jesus, what the hell am I going to say to them? ‘Sorry I haven’t been in or
called. A vampire kidnapped me.’ I don’t think that will fly. The partners would have me
committed.” Kyle sucked in a big breath and prepared to launch more questions at Teague.
Now that he’d started firing them off, scads were coming to him, every one demanding an
answer.

“Whoa,” Teague said, before Kyle could continue. “Slow down a little. One thing at a

time.”

“Sorry,” Kyle said sheepishly. “There’s just so much I don’t know.”

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99

“It’s okay. First of all, it’s Wednesday night. I took you out of the Manning estate this

morning and brought you here. The hotel suite belongs to a friend, who’s lending it to me
since the club burned to the ground and I have nowhere else to take you. For the moment,
we have the whole floor to ourselves. As far as blood goes, you’re going to have to feed every
day until your system adjusts. Your appetite will slack off until you only need a few pints a
week. There’s an underground system where you can buy -- most of it is stolen from blood
banks -- or you can get it the old-fashioned way, but I wouldn’t advise it. It’s against the
rules, and if you’re caught, it could mean harsh punishment from the council, especially if
you accidentally kill someone.”

“I would never--”

Teague interrupted. “You don’t know that. This afternoon you didn’t know what

would make the hunger pangs go away, so you fought drinking. Imagine feeling the same
way but knowing what would make the pain stop. It’s damn tempting to take what you need
in a moment of crisis and not worry about the consequences until afterward, when it’s too
late.”

Kyle could see Teague’s point. The very thought of being forced to kill someone in

order to assure his own survival caused him to break out in a cold sweat. He wasn’t a
murderer. Although he couldn’t deny that drinking from Teague had been better, more
fulfilling than the refrigerated blood, he’d just as soon stick with the prepackaged variety.

A familiar voice echoed in his ear, reminding him of what he’d forgotten.

When he

arrives, I expect you to kill him. You must, if you want to be forgiven and take your place by
my side

.

“He wanted me to kill you,” Kyle blurted. “Why would Darren want me to kill you?”

“As if screwing me isn’t enough reason?” Teague snorted, and then immediately looked

contrite. “I’m sure he blames me for taking his old life, and you, away from him.”

“Why would he blame you? It isn’t like you had anything to do with it. As far as having

sex with me, it isn’t like I was cheating on him. He’s the one who ran off with someone else
and left me, not the other way around.”

Teague lowered his head and suddenly seemed really interested in his hands. “That

isn’t exactly true.”

“What? Which part?” The fact that Teague wouldn’t look at him didn’t bode well.

“All of it.”

“Excuse me? You want to elaborate on that, because you told me he left with someone

else. Remember?”

“I know, and I’m truly sorry I had to lie to you, but Darren didn’t leave with anyone --

not of his own free will anyway. He was attacked at the club. When I found him, he was
unconscious and barely alive. I did what I had to save him, and myself.”

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“Which means

what

?” Teague

had

to lie to him? Kyle let that go, for the moment, in

order to focus on the rest of what Teague had said. “What did you do?”

“I fed him, tainted his blood with the vampirism virus, and then dropped him off on

the doorstep of the man who’d attacked him.”

“You…” Kyle stuttered as rage built inside him, swirling up higher and higher until his

head felt like a geyser ready to blow. “You what? You saved his life, and then dropped him
off with the men who tried to kill him in the first place?” Kyle rose up on his calves, his
muscles tight with tension. “How could you do that? What kind of monster are you?”

Teague flinched. “I didn’t have any choice. I couldn’t just keep him and let him hang

around the club asking questions and snooping in my business. You don’t understand.”

“Then enlighten me, because I don’t see how you could justify handing over someone

who’s weak and hurt to the very people who’d caused his pain to begin with.”

“There are things you don’t know about me.”

“Obviously.”

“If you’ll hear me out, I’ll try to explain, Kyle. That’s the best I can do.”

“Fine. Explain. But I doubt it’ll do anything to make me understand how you could do

something so intentionally cruel.”

Kyle listened, his heart hardened against Teague’s story of betrayal and murder. About

how he’d lost his parents and gone on the run with his brother, always hiding, and never
knowing if they would be the next to be killed because of their race. If it had been a week
earlier, Kyle would have been touched by the way Teague was opening up to him, but now it
just seemed like a case of too little, too late. Part of him wanted to give in and say that he
understood why Teague had gone to such lengths to hide the fact that he’d saved Darren’s
life. Darren’s face would flash before his mind’s eye and bury any sympathy he might have
felt for Teague under an avalanche of empathy for what Darren must have gone through.
The final nail sunk into Teague’s coffin as he explained how Darren had murdered several
people, one of them a government official, and how he’d been taken into custody to await
trial.

“Stop,” Kyle said. “Darren wouldn’t do that. He couldn’t kill anyone anymore than I

could.”

“Are you so sure about that? He had you kidnapped, infected by his buddies, and then

held you against your will until I broke you out. I heard what he said to you. Do you really
think he would’ve just let you go if you refused to kill me?”

Kyle recalled the blunt way Darren had discussed murder as if it were Sunday brunch,

and the maniacal look in his eyes when he’d promised forgiveness. “No, probably not. But
the Darren I knew wasn’t crazy. He was charming and funny and a pacifist. Whatever you
did to him made him the way he is.”

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101

“You may be right, but I doubt it. Darren sounded sane, if fanatical, when he was

describing his plans to attack the council. Insane people aren’t that meticulous.”

A headache pulsed through Kyle’s skull as he tried to absorb that. He closed his eyes

and rubbed his temples, trying to stave off a full-blown migraine. A hand landed on his
shoulder, Teague’s long fingers kneading the cap, and Kyle brushed it off. “Don’t touch me.”
Kyle opened his eyes. “Regardless of your reasons, the fact is you lied to me and then went
out of your way to have other club members back up your story. Because of your lie, I left
him at the club, alone and in pain. It’s no wonder he wanted to dish out a little payback.”

If

the shoe was on the other foot, I might feel the same way

.

“It isn’t your fault, Kyle.”

“The hell it’s not. I shouldn’t have been gullible enough to take your word for it. I

should have looked for him or done

something

.” The way he’d turned his back on Darren

was unforgivable, and yet Darren had offered forgiveness.

In exchange for killing Teague

, his

subconscious shouted.

“I told you what I wanted you to believe, and then I had Joe back me up. You had no

reason to think I was lying.” Teague shrugged, like what they were discussing was no more
important than the weather.

The blasé body language pissed Kyle off. They were talking about someone’s life here --

Darren, a man Kyle had dated for months. He might not have loved him, but they’d been
close friends, and Kyle had cared about him.

So much that I forgot all about him in favor of swinging off Teague’s big dick

.

Disgusted, Kyle rolled to the opposite side of the bed and stood. He paced back and

forth between the bed and the window, trying to work off some of the tension building
inside him. He wasn’t sure who he was more disgusted with -- Teague or himself. Teague
may have lied, but Kyle was the one who’d bought it hook, line, and sinker.

Teague cleared his throat. “It wasn’t as if I could just tell you the truth. You wouldn’t

have believed me, and there are laws against revealing ourselves to mortals.”

“But there aren’t any laws about changing people against their will and then covering it

up?” Kyle asked rolling his eyes. “Spare me the bullshit.”

Teague’s shoulders sagged. “What would you rather I had done? Should I have turned

my back on him and left him to die?”

“No.” Energy coursed through Kyle’s body, his muscles taut with the urge to lash out.

He’d never been prone to violence before, but damned if he didn’t feel like smashing

his fists into something right then. He couldn’t think; there was too much swirling around in
his head. Worst of all, he was more upset about being lied to and manipulated into believing
yet another lover had found him inadequate and left him than he was about what had been
done to Darren. If that was the case, maybe

he

was the monster here.

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Amanda Young

Kyle paced back and forth, his gaze averted from Teague and the hangdog expression

on his face. He couldn’t stay here. He needed to get away from Teague -- go somewhere and
just figure things out for himself.

He stopped at the edge of the bed, hands on his hips, and forced his gaze to land on

Teague. “I’m leaving.”

“What?” Teague rose to his full height, towering over Kyle. “You can’t go. You don’t

know how to protect yourself. Hell, you don’t have anything clean to wear. The clothes I
found you in were so covered in gunk I threw them out.”

“I’m a grown man, Teague. I don’t need your approval in order to leave. You can either

loan me some clothes, or I’ll walk out of here half naked. It doesn’t matter to me.”

“Please don’t go. I’d never forgive myself if I let you walk out that door and something

happened to you.”

Teague looked so sincere and dejected that Kyle almost felt bad for him. Almost. Then

he sighed in an overly dramatic fashion, and Kyle just knew he must be faking it. Teague
didn’t give a shit about him; he just wanted to get his own way.

“Get over yourself.” Kyle sneered. “The entire world does

not

revolve around you and

what you want.”

“Maybe not, but I’m not helping you get yourself killed either.” Teague stared at him

with a look of bullheaded persistence.

“Fine,” Kyle hissed. “Whatever. I’m out of here.” He pivoted toward the door, intent on

leaving.

“Why do you have to be so stubborn?” Teague grabbed his arm from behind and spun

him around. Kyle raised his free arm and cocked it back, ready to strike out. Teague
intercepted and grabbed his forearm before he could lash out.

“Let go,” Kyle spat, struggling against the hold Teague had on his biceps.

Teague walked Kyle backward, forcing him toward the bed until the back of his knees

hit the mattress. Once there, Teague let go of Kyle’s arms and gave him a shove. Kyle
teetered backward and landed on his ass. He scrambled to get away, clawing at the sheets in
his haste. Teague’s hands landed on his ankles and squeezed down like steel manacles before
Kyle was roughly flipped over.

Teague jumped on top of Kyle and straddled his hips. He leaned forward and used all of

his weight to pin Kyle down by the shoulders. “I thought you said you could take care of
yourself? Go ahead, big man, fight me off, and I’ll let you leave. I’ll even go downstairs and
buy you something pretty from the gift shop to wear.”

Kyle bucked and twisted, trying to knock Teague off him. All he accomplished was

popping wood as he ground himself up against the coarse material of Teague’s jeans. “I don’t
want anything from you, you lying, manipulative bastard. Just get your damn hands off me.”

Teague went deathly still, his nostrils flaring. “Make me.”

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103

Panting, Kyle stared up at Teague -- at the spiky black hair falling into the harshly

masculine angles of his face and the stubborn determination gleaming from behind eyes the
color of the midnight sky -- and contemplated his chances of breaking free. The odds weren’t
in his favor. Teague was a strong bastard, too much for Kyle to best him through strength
alone. He was going to have to outsmart him.

“That’s better,” Teague said, apparently under the misconception that he’d given up. “I

won’t apologize for what I did to protect myself and Cadge, but I’m sorry I lied to you.”

“That isn’t good enough.”

Teague swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing in the middle of his narrow, corded

throat. “I don’t know what else you want from me. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for
you, but I can’t change the past, love.”

The endearment sent a shock of longing through Kyle. He’d thought he’d imagined it

when Teague had called him that before. At one time, hearing Teague say that would have
filled him with joy. Now it just made him feel sick -- as if his emotions were being exploited
and thrown back in his face. Teague didn’t love him; he never had. Saying so now was a slap
in the face. “Don’t call me that,” he whispered. “Not now; don’t you dare.”

“Why shouldn’t I say it?” With a frown, Teague let go of Kyle’s shoulders and sat up.

He gazed down at Kyle with dark eyes filled with emotion. “I know you don’t want to hear
it -- don’t care how I feel -- but I do love you, Kyle.”

“No, you don’t. You’re just saying that to keep me here” Kyle sucked in a sharp breath

of air and exhaled, mortification set in as he realized it sounded like an aborted hiccup.

“What?” Teague jerked back as if he’d been slapped. He threw one leg over Kyle and

scooted off the bed. From where he stood at the edge of the bed, he glared daggers at Kyle.
“If that’s what you want to believe, fine, but don’t presume to tell me how I feel. You want
to leave and get yourself killed?” He waved at the door. “Go right ahead. Far be it from me to
try to stop the man I love.”

Kyle goggled at Teague. The other man looked troubled and miserable, two

characteristics that did not describe the man he knew -- the man who’d broken into a house
filled with creatures who wanted to kill him in order to save Kyle’s ass. Hearing Teague
profess his love -- watching the edges of his mouth turn down and the tiny lines at the
corners of his eyes deepen -- was harder than believing in the existence of vampires after a
lifetime of being conditioned not to believe in things that went bump in the night.

Teague’s shoulders curved inward, an air of resignation hanging around him like a

shroud. Gone was the proud man Kyle had fallen in love with. In his place was a broken man
Kyle didn’t recognize.

Knowing he caused that wasn’t something Kyle could live with. “Why?” he asked,

praying for an answer he could put stock in. If Teague truly loved him, he would stay. They
would have a long road to travel in order to rebuild the trust they’d lost, but it was one Kyle
was willing to travel.

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Teague stood still, his forehead creased in confusion. “Huh?”

Still lying on the bed, Kyle propped himself up on his elbows. “You say you love me. I

want to know why.” His heart beat in triple time as he stared at Teague, willing the other
man to give him an answer he could live with. He didn’t think he could take it if Teague
admitted he was lying. What Teague had done to Darren was horrible, the lies he’d told to
cover it up were almost unforgivable, and yet Kyle still loved him. The tender fibers of
emotion that wound around his heart were holding on tight, even in the face of such
adversity. Seeing the fight drain out of Teague was enough to break Kyle’s heart, and loosen
some of the anger he’d been clinging to so fiercely.

“Why? What the fuck kind of question is that?”

“An honest one, and I’d like an honest answer.”

“God, Kyle.” Teague swiped his hands through his hair, making it stand up in odd

angles, and warily approached the bed. He sat perched on the end, as if he were afraid to
scare Kyle off by moving too close. “I love you because -- God, this is stupid.”

Something in Kyle’s chest clenched hard. This was it. Teague wasn’t going to be able to

do it. “It’s all right, Teague. You don’t have to lie to save my feelings. I’d rather you be
honest.”

“No. That’s not what I’m doing. Just give me a second, damn it. This is hard. I’ve never

done this, and I want to get it right.” Teague took a deep breath, let it out and looked Kyle
right in the eyes. “I love you, because you’re

you

. You’re everything that’s good and kind and

right in the world. You’re stubborn and persistent and fiercely loyal to the people you care
about. And I don’t deserve you.” He smiled sadly. “You make me want to be a better man, if
only to see you smile at me in approval. There isn’t any one thing I love about you, Kyle. It’s
everything.”

Teague really loves me

.

Brutal need slammed into Kyle. He swallowed the frog in his throat and moved, before

he could second-guess himself or his actions. Now wasn’t the time for more talking; he could
show Teague how he felt through action better than any words could describe.

He reached Teague in the blink of an eye and shoved him down on the bed, crawling

on top of him. Before Teague did more than open his mouth and utter a stilted, “what” Kyle
was on top of him and taking advantage of Teague’s parted lips by slipping his tongue inside.
He tunneled every bit of his hurt and anger and confusion into the meeting of their lips,
kissing Teague with all the pent up longing he’d stored inside him for so long. Teague tasted
of mint with a hint of something coppery -- blood. He tasted damn good, addictive even.

And to think, at one time I wasn’t even allowed to kiss these lips

.

Teague moaned and twisted his face far enough to break their kiss. He stared up at

Kyle, his eyes pleading. “Does this mean what I think it does? Please, God, say something.”

Secrets and Lies

105

Kyle drew in a ragged breath, his body aching for skin to skin contact, and cleared his

throat. “This means we have a lot of talking to do, a ton of things to figure out, but I love you
too.”

“Thank God.” Teague reached up, wrapped his hand around Kyle’s neck and dragged

his mouth back down to meet Teague’s. He speared his tongue inside, gliding it over and
alongside Kyle’s, and then pushed at the sensitive surface behind Kyle’s upper teeth.

Kyle panted into Teague’s mouth, surprised by how good it felt to have his lover caress

the small pouches hiding his teeth. His gums tingled and began to ache, as if he had a new,
unknown set of nerves inside his mouth. The weird sensation grew stronger until his fangs
dropped and punctured Teague’s tongue. The salty taste of Teague’s blood burst over his taste
buds as he jerked away and stared down at Teague with bellowing lungs.

“Fuck, I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?”

“Hell, no. It felt good. Do it again. Bite me, suck on my tongue like you would my

cock.”

Kyle groaned at the mental image that produced and resealed his lips over Teague’s.

This time he was met by Teague’s teeth, the two canines sharp and longer than the rest. He
explored the slick length of one then the other, testing the enameled surface with the tip of
his tongue, and intentionally pricked his own tongue, giving back the same as he’d taken.

Following his own instructions, Teague latched onto Kyle’s tongue and sucked, like he

had hold of a tiny, flexible cock. Kyle’s lower body tightened, his balls pulling up tight
against his body as his dick jolted in jealousy. He shifted his hips, grinding against Teague’s
jeans in search of friction, but it wasn’t enough. He needed skin, and he needed it now.

Reaching between them, Kyle tore at Teague’s jeans. The button fly fought him every

step of the way, and he quickly ran out of patience. He grabbed hold of each side of the
placket and yanked, ripped off two of the buttons in his haste.

Teague laughed, a joyous sound that made Kyle’s heart soar, and lifted his hips to help

aid Kyle’s endeavor to rid of him of the annoying denim. The jeans made it halfway down
Teague’s athletic thighs before Kyle said the hell with it and shoved his own boxers down
enough to free his prick. He couldn’t wait long enough for the slow loving he wanted, but
there would be time for that later -- a lifetime of nothing but time. This go-round was going
to be fast and dirty and messy. If the way his dick pulsed against his palm when he fisted it
was any indication, it was going to be damn satisfying all the same.

He leaned over Teague, braced one forearm on the bed next to his lover’s head, and

kissed him. Teague’s flavor almost deterred him from his plans, but the constant throb of his
cock reminded him of what he wanted before he could lose himself in the bliss of Teague’s
mouth. Sightlessly, he grappled for Teague’s thick erection and wrapped his fingers around
the warm, silken stalk. He rocked his hips forward and grabbed hold of his own cock, fisting
both. He stroked once, from base to tip, and groaned at the bittersweet friction. His hand
wasn’t big enough to do more than tease.

106

Amanda Young

Before he could move, one of Teague’s hands slid between their damp torsos and

completed the circle, creating a hot tunnel for them both to fuck, their cocks bearing down
on the other’s and sliding on a slick film of precum.

“Oh, God, yes,” Kyle groaned, throwing his head back as pressure coiled in his lower

back. “Touch me, Teague. Squeeze harder.”

“Yes,” Teague said, holding Kyle’s gaze as he threaded his fingers through the slots

between Kyle’s. Together they pumped, building speed, rutting against each other like
animals hell-bent on chasing their orgasm.

“Oh, fuck, Kyle. Can’t hold it.” Teague bowed up, shaking as spunk shot from his cock

and lubed their joined hands. “Love you.”

Seeing Teague’s face contort in passion, added with hearing the words he’d longed for

so long, set off Kyle’s own orgasm. He bent and stole another deep kiss, unable to get enough,
as the pressure in balls released. He gasped as his cock jerked in his hand, spraying thick
ropes of seed between them.

Trembling, his muscles gone limber with satisfaction, Kyle let go of their dicks and

slumped forward. Bracing his weight on his arms, he nuzzled his face into the curve of
Teague’s neck and softly pressed his lips against Teague’s skin. “I love you, too.”

Some time later, as they lay naked and entwined in each other’s arm, Kyle roused

enough to ask, “What happens now?”

Teague opened his eyes and yawned. “I don’t know. We take things one day at a time, I

guess. We have some options.”

“Oh yeah?” Kyle snuggled in closer and kissed Teague’s shoulder. “Like what?”

“Well, we could stay here, rebuild the club, and start over. Then again, we could

always run away and never look back.”

Kyle ran the tip of one finger down the center of Teague’s chest. “As good as running

away sounds, I have responsibilities here that I can’t walk away from -- my mom is here, my
business.”

“Sell the business, and we’ll bring your mom with us.”

“It isn’t quite that simple.” Kyle explained his mother’s condition.

Teague gave Kyle a squeeze and brushed a kiss over his forehead. “I’m sorry, love.”

Kyle squeezed his eyes shut and wallowed in the sound of Teague’s gravely voice

calling him love. It was going to take a while to get used to that.

Wait

. “Teague, vampires live

forever in the movies. Are we immortal?”

Teague smoothed his hand down Kyle’s back, rubbing in slow circles. “Near enough.

Why?”

“I was just thinking that it’s going to take years to get used to hearing you call me love.”

Secrets and Lies

107

Teague tightened his arms around Kyle and rolled until he was on top, his lips hovering

scant centimeters over Kyle’s. “Don’t worry,

love

. You’ll have

centuries

to get sick of hearing

me tell you how much you mean to me.”

Amanda Young

Amanda Young spends her days basking in the sun by the seashore and her nights

surrounded by dozens of serenading male strippers whose only desire is to make her happy.

Yeah, right.

In real life, my husband chases away all the hot men, right before asking me what’s for

dinner and reminding me to do the dishes for the umpteenth time.

Always an avid reader of romance, I was thrilled when I discovered erotic romance and

e-books. For a long while, I toyed with the idea of writing my own but couldn’t ever seem to
find the time to do it.

When I found myself unemployed in 2006, I decided that it was high time I gave it a

shot. I sat down at my trusty computer and, according to my very patient husband, haven’t
moved since.

I love to hear from readers. You can visit my website www.AmandaYoung.org or email

me at [e-mail].