Grand Adventures

by Dawn Kimberly Johnson

  The sizzling heat of Neiran’s mouth around Andrei’s erection brought Andrei’s hips off the bed. “Oh God.”

  “Neiran will do fine.”

  Andrei chuckled, but it changed to a hiss when Neiran returned to his task, working his hands and mouth up and down the length of Andrei’s shaft. The suction, the heat, had Andrei gripping the mattress. His gums throbbed in concert with his pulse, with intense need to bite.

  Neiran pulled back. After a rustle and snap, warm hands returned, slicking up and down Andrei’s cock. The blue of Neiran’s eyes glowed in the dark as he then hovered over him, one hand pressing either shoulder. “You think you can’t be my equal if you submit to me?” Neiran’s cock brushed his. “You want to know what I want?”

  At the lazy up-and-down stroke of Neiran’s hand, Andrei could only groan in response.

  With Andrei’s hard-on gripped firmly in hand, Neiran sank slowly down the length. Glowing eyes met Andrei’s stare in the dark. “I think you have your answer.”

  “Fuck.” Andrei ran his hands along Neiran’s sides, up his chest, and then his back. “Fuck. You… feel… like I was born to be inside you.” The buzz in his head and the words spilling from Andrei’s mouth made him wonder if the wolf’s blood hadn’t made him drunk.

  Neiran’s response was only to press Andrei’s arms to the bed and lean over for a kiss. Andrei tried to thrust upward but couldn’t do much to affect the pace of their mating due to Neiran’s strength and weight. Neiran growled and nipped Andrei’s chest, hard enough that there would most definitely be a mark.

  Andrei tried again to thrust hard, pleased. God, he was so fucking out-of-his-mind turned on, he couldn’t think. He wanted more.

  Starbursts of pleasure exploded throughout Andrei’s body. He struggled to keep breathing when stubble scraped his jaw and those teeth sank into the juncture of his neck and shoulder again. Neiran held him paralyzed but tingling with pleasure while they both got the ride of their lives. Overwhelmed by his gathering orgasm and the press of Neiran’s teeth, Andrei threw his head back. “I need to taste you again.”

  Neiran sat up. “Wait.”

  Andrei thrust into Neiran with a hard growl. “I need more.” His head swam. Sweat broke out on his body. He couldn’t feel his injuries anymore, couldn’t feel anything except the places where Neiran’s touch scorched his skin, and he needed more of that heady buzz. No. It was more than the power boost.

  He brought his hand to the side of Neiran’s face. “I’m inside you. I want you to be inside me too.”

  Neiran rode him fast. Hard. “I am.” His breath came out jagged and labored. “My blood is already inside you.”

  “I just—” Oh hell, this was insane. Fucking insane. Neiran’s blood lit up his body from the inside out, and fuck, he’d never been so greedy, but with those glowing blue eyes holding his and those thighs around him, all he wanted was to consume Neiran until they both fell into oblivion. He reached for Neiran’s shoulders. “Please….”

  “Not yet,” Neiran growled.

  Andrei gasped for breath. The patterned tile on the ceiling spun. He dug his fingers into Neiran’s thighs, every muscle clenched tight. “I’m so fucking close.”

  “Wait.” Neiran held Andrei’s wrists over his head, rocking hard on Andrei’s dick. “Wait.”

  “Please.”

  Neiran leaned down. “Bite. Now.”

  Andrei struck. With the first taste of Neiran’s smoky blood, he couldn’t hold back the deluge. They both stilled as Andrei pulsed inside Neiran’s ass, and Neiran came all over both of them. Andrei made no noise as he drank, while Neiran released the unholiest of howls.

  Andrei couldn’t help but smile at the sound. He pulled away and closed his bite, not wanting to drink too much more of Neiran’s blood.

  When the echoes of baying had died down and Neiran collapsed on the bed beside him, Andrei turned and ran a hand through Neiran’s sweaty hair. His heart still raced like crazy, unaware that the action was over. So many strange things ran through his head. He wasn’t quite sure he should say any of them. “You know, I’m really not the submissive type.” Well, that hadn’t been what he’d planned to say at all.

  Neiran smiled. “You didn’t enjoy?”

  All over again, Andrei’s body heated. “I did, actually. You turned me on so much, I think I would have agreed to anything. I’ve never done that sort of thing. Anyway, I’m a big guy. Not too many would be able to hold me down.”

  Neiran smiled and ran a hand along Andrei’s side. “You’d been injured. My blood packs a punch, especially for a vampire. I wanted to be sure you restrained yourself, at least a little. Next time—if there is a next time—we can discuss different boundaries. I do actually prefer an equal in my bed.”

  Andrei narrowed his eyes. “For a vampire. How would you know?”

  “I loved a vampire once. Long time ago, when I was young and foolish. Before all the discord.”

  Andrei stiffened. “We hardly know each other. I don’t know why, but I guess that bugs me.”

  Neiran’s lips brushed his ear. “It bothered me to hear you speak of biting another young vampire behind your neighbor’s garage.”

  Andrei turned to Neiran, frowning. “The blood bond can be a funny thing.” Was it only the blood bond, though? Or something more? He searched the lines of Neiran’s face and wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

  “I suppose it can.” Neiran pulled him close. “You need to rest so you can heal. No worrying for right now.”

  IT WAS a disappointment, but not a surprise, when Neiran awoke to find himself in bed alone. He groaned and grumbled at his aches and pains and the fatigue that lingered despite his having slept through an entire day. Though he’d allowed Andrei to drain a bit too much of his blood, and his energy with their subsequent lovemaking, Neiran couldn’t bring himself to be angry. He’d known Andrei was a bit too young and probably confused. The fault had been Neiran’s alone.

  Still, his heart sank when his hand brushed over the still-warm bedsheet. He’d just missed saying good-bye.

  Shouting below had Neiran out of bed and into his pants in record time. His nephew stumbled into the hall, blessedly back in human form, looking sleep mussed and vulnerable in an oversized shirt. Neiran shushed the boy and pushed him back into the guest room. That poor cub wouldn’t witness any more violence.

  Neiran descended the main staircase. Andrei stood framed in the front doorway, arms braced against the woodwork as if to block entrance to the angry, battered vampire on the front stoop. Based on the strong, proud facial features—features that would be handsome if not for all the cuts and bruises—this was Andrei’s brother. The one Andrei had beaten.

  “You should leave, Nico.”

  “Can’t hide out here forever, motherfucker. You’re gonna get yours.”

  “Uh-huh.” Andrei casually scratched his temple with his middle finger, without ever removing his elbow from the edge of the door. Defending Neiran’s home. Amazing. “And just what am I going to get exactly? Another chance to beat the shit out of you? ’Cause from what I can see, you’re not in the best shape right now. But me, I’m good to go.”

  Neiran smiled. His vampire stood tall and proud, shoulders back and voice confident as he faced down his own brother. His vampire? Neiran’s heart squeezed. His gaze met with Nico’s, and he smiled just to raise the asshole’s hackles. He strode forward and stood shoulder to shoulder with Andrei. One hand went to the small of the vampire’s back, and Neiran was gratified by the slight shift of weight against his palm.

  His vampire? Maybe so.

  “Perhaps you should listen to your brother, Nico. Attacking a child on private property is a very serious offense. Now, I suggest you get back to where you came from before I report you to the Council.” Neiran couldn’t hold back the snarl. “And you’d damn well better stay gone, or the next time I’ll kill you myself.”

  Lamplight played over Nico’s busted face, enhancing the cruelty in his expression. His n
arrowed stare pegged Andrei. “A fucking quisling is what you are!” The battered male sneered and took a step back. “Fucking disgusting.” He started down the stairs but turned abruptly and hocked a giant loogie at Andrei’s feet before continuing down the path toward the main entrance of the grounds.

  Andrei scoffed, but tension drained visibly from his body. “And he has the nerve to call me disgusting.”

  Neiran shook his head. “I’m sorry it came to that between you and your brother.”

  The skin under Neiran’s hand undulated with Andrei’s deep sigh. “The brother I thought I knew wouldn’t have done something like that. I’m just not sure what I’ll face when I go home. If it’s even safe to return.”

  “So stay here.” Neiran coughed. It was almost as if the words had jumped from his throat on their own. “If you want.” He looked his vampire up and down. Andrei was shirtless and smiling a slight smile that tugged at Neiran’s heart.

  Dark eyebrows shot up, even as the smile spread and a wickedly sexy pair of fangs peeked from behind a full, dark upper lip. “You mean that?”

  Neiran stroked a finger over Andrei’s face. For a moment his eyes closed, and he breathed in the crisp night air. “You looked so… right, standing here. Before, when I came down the stairs.”

  Just then, a door opened off of the main hall. Neiran met the tentative stares of three curious staff members, confirming what they all wondered with a firm nod. His grip tightened on Andrei, his chin lifted, and his lips pressed together in a firm line. His meaning was clear: the vampire is mine, and you will treat him with respect. “It won’t be easy, though, I’m afraid.”

  Sensuously lit under the glow of the full moon, Andrei glanced back into the house and then leaned into Neiran. Their lips fit together perfectly, and the kiss was at once brand-new and oddly familiar. “I know. And I’d love to stay,” he said.

  Isle of Waiting

  SUE BROWN

  Dear Eric and TJ, sending you sunshine on your face and sand beneath your feet.

  With all my love, Sue xx

  I.

  PAUL LEANED on the doorbell. The shrill sound was loud enough outside the flat, but he knew just how obnoxious the sound was inside, which was why he didn’t let go. Paul was in a mood, and he felt like sharing the pain.

  He grinned in grim satisfaction as he heard his brother Sam.

  “I’m going to fucking kill Paul.”

  “You don’t know it’s Paul,” Sam’s husband, Liam, said, ever the voice of reason.

  “Yes, I do.”

  Paul slumped against the doorframe, waiting for Sam to find the key to unlock the door. Since Liam went missing after being hurt in a hit-and-run accident, Sam had insisted on the front door being locked even when they were both there. Paul wasn’t sure whether Sam wanted to keep the outside world out or stop Liam from making a break from his endless smothering. Whatever it was, Sam insisted the door be locked all the time, and then he’d lose the key. The policeman in Paul wanted to yell at his big brother for being so careless, but he knew Sam was only projecting his fear of losing Liam, and so he was patient… for now.

  He hadn’t taken his finger off the bell, though.

  “Shut the fuck up, Paul,” Sam yelled loudly through the door.

  Paul thought about ignoring him, but he wasn’t that mean. He stopped the incessant ringing. “Open the door, then.”

  “I will when I can find the damn key.”

  “In the pot, under the pile of bills,” Paul said.

  “No, it isn’t,” Sam scoffed. “I never put it there.” He went silent. “It is there. How the hell did you know that?” He flung open the door and scowled at Paul, who just brushed past.

  “It’s where you always put the key and then swear you don’t. Hi, Liam, how are you?”

  Liam was curled up on the sofa, reading the newspaper. “I’d like to say it’s nice to see you, Paul, but I never lie.”

  Paul flung himself into the nearest seat. “Make me a tea, bitch,” he said to his brother.

  He received a one-fingered salute from Sam, who sat next to Liam.

  “Make it yourself. You know where everything is,” Sam sniped.

  Liam frowned. “Why are you here? I thought you were supposed to be having a steamy date with your hot boyfriend this evening. Shouldn’t you be getting ready?”

  “It’s the afternoon, arsehole. Anyway, I got blown off. He has to work.” Paul tried to understand, he really did. It wasn’t like he hadn’t done the same to Olaf, but he’d been looking forward to a night of sex-by-Skype and watching Olaf come apart with the dildo Paul had sent him.

  “So you decided to come around here and annoy us instead?” Sam said. “Guess Mum told you we were here.”

  “Yeah. You don’t mind.”

  It was a statement, not a question. Paul didn’t care if they did mind. The last thing he wanted to do was sit in his shoe box of a flat. BO (before Olaf, not body odor) Paul would have run off to the nearest club and got laid to relieve the itch. They hadn’t declared their exclusivity, but for the first time in his life, Paul didn’t want to get laid by some hot stranger. He wanted his tall, enigmatic man. He was getting old.

  Paul huffed and looked at Sam and Liam. “Why aren’t you at the restaurant?”

  The two men had virtually moved to the Isle of Wight to help their friends, Wig and Nibs, run the Blue Lagoon. It helped the boys through a crisis and gave Sam and Liam some much-needed income.

  “We’re trying to decide whether to sell this place or rent it out. We thought we’d spend the weekend here to make a decision,” Sam said.

  “And?”

  “We’ve talked and talked and still have no bloody idea what to do.” Sam sounded exasperated.

  “So what are you doing now?”

  Liam waggled his newspaper. “Reading.”

  “Ditto.” Sam pointed to his book open on the coffee table.

  Paul nodded; then he squinted at the book, which had two seminaked guys on the cover. “What the hell are you reading?”

  Sam pressed his lips together.

  Paul leaned forward and picked up the book.

  “Don’t lose my page,” Sam ordered.

  “I won’t, but seriously, what shit are you reading now?”

  Liam groaned and hid his face behind his newspaper. “Paul, are you cruising for a bruising?”

  “Gay romance is not shit,” Sam said tightly.

  Paul raised his eyebrow. “Oh yeah? I don’t remember seeing these on bookshelves in Smiths.”

  Sam scowled as if he was about to make an angry outburst; then Liam kissed him on the cheek and pulled him into a hug. Sam resisted, but Liam was forceful, and eventually Sam caved in, snuggled against him.

  “Just ignore him.” Over Sam’s head, Liam winked at Paul. “You know he’s only winding you up.”

  “Yeah, sorry, Sam. I know you like this shit.” Paul did his best to keep a straight face when Sam growled.

  “If you’ve got nothing to do except be an arsehole, you can go home.”

  “I can think of something better, babe,” Liam said. “Where’s your Kindle?”

  Sam frowned as he tried to remember. “Er… on the table under the papers.”

  “Give it to me.” Liam sat up. He took the Kindle and scrolled for a moment. “If you’re going to stay and annoy us, then shut up and read. Sam’ll make you a cup of tea.”

  Sam snorted. “I bloody won’t.”

  “Yes, you will.”

  “Why can’t Paul do it?”

  Paul hastily took the Kindle from Liam. “I’m reading, remember?” He couldn’t remember the last time he’d read a book. Of course, he wasn’t going to read this one, but at least he’d get Sam to make him a cup of tea. He grinned as Sam grumbled his way to the kitchen—then sobered as he caught Liam’s expression. “What’s happened?”

  Liam bit his lip. “Go easy on Sam, yeah? He’s not had a good day.”

  “Do you want me to go?”

&nb
sp; “Stay for a cuppa and read that book before he kills you.”

  Paul pulled a face. “I don’t want to read this crap.”

  “Tough shit.” Sam put three mugs on the coffee table. “Shit. I’ve spilled some. Give me that tea towel, Liam.” He mopped the table. “Relax and read with us if you’ve nothing else to do. You never know—you might like it.”

  “It’s a murder mystery,” Liam said.

  “Has it got gay sex?”

  Sam rolled his eyes. “It’s a gay romance, dillweed. Of course there’s sex.”

  Paul swallowed half the mug of tea and looked at the first line. “Has it got any pictures of dicks?”

  “Read the fucking book. The words shouldn’t be too long, even for you,” Liam said in an exasperated tone and went back to his newspaper.

  Huffing, Paul drank his tea and carried on reading. He made a decision to read the first chapter and then head for the nearest club. He really needed to get laid, even if it meant ’fessing to Olaf later.

  “I DON’T think he heard you, babe,” Liam said.

  Sam snorted. “I can’t believe he’s actually reading. I didn’t think Paul knew how to read.”

  Paul ignored Sam’s rude comment. He was deep into a chapter where the bad guys had the upper hand, and he really wanted to get to the end.

  “Do you want another cuppa, Paul? Sam’s making it.”

  “I made the last one. It’s your turn.”

  “You’re being an arsehole. Besides, my stomach hurts.”

  “That’s it. I’m calling the doctor’s.”

  “I’ve been to the doctor’s. I’m fine. I just want you to make your poor injured husband a cup of tea. Is that too much to ask?” Liam sounded totally pathetic.

  Paul looked up and glared at the two men. “Will you two shut the fuck up? I’m reading here, and it’s getting interesting.”

  “Fine. Fine.” Sam huffed loudly. “I’ll make the tea, but next time it’s your turn, Liam, or you’re going to the bloody doctor’s—again.”