The Vampire's Pet (The Vampyr Book 1)

by V. R. Cumming

  “Yeah, well, maybe you could clean your dick up and talk shy little Eric into giving you a blow job.”

  It didn’t take much persuasion. I was already primed to have him there, would’ve taken him into me another way if Marco hadn’t been so rough, damn the man. In one night, Elizabet’s favorite had fucked me raw and spilled one of my biggest secrets.

  And yet, now that I’d been inside his head, I trusted him, oddly enough. Marco could be a good ally. If he offered me another taste of his blood, I’d have to take it, just as I’d taken the queen’s, just as I’d take the blood of anyone else that held the promise of building my strength for what lay ahead.

  Blood for loyalty. I’d never really thought of the Vampyr that way before. Of course, when I first stepped into Elizabet’s mansion, I’d never considered the need to make alliances of any kind. Strategy. My dad had done his level best to school me on its finer points, though I didn’t think he’d understand or approve of the uses I was putting his lessons to.

  Devin slipped back into bed with me, interrupting my ruminations. True to my word, I pleasured him with my mouth, swallowing him down into me, and held him the rest of the night until sleep tugged us both into its dark embrace.

  The next few weeks were a busy time for all of us. I took Gianna to see my parents and they reacted about like I thought they would, with a quiet censure that faded under Gianna’s youthful grace.

  It helped a lot that she was Catholic, too, though we didn’t quibble on the details. She and I had decided to have a civil ceremony and bypass the church, legitimations and baptisms be damned. Until we knew how vampiric the baby would be, it was better not to go too far down that path.

  As the days rolled past, my nerves jangled harder and more frequently in my gut. I was going to be a husband. In a few months, the baby would be here, and then I’d be a dad. Both of those eclipsed my upcoming graduation, the branching possibilities of more school and a career, and my eventual responsibilities as a vampire.

  Since becoming a pet, I’d scrimped and scrounged, stashing extra money into a savings account along with any bonuses. I was close to having enough for a down payment on a house, or maybe to buy one outright, if we could find a decent one in foreclosure. We’d need a master bedroom big enough to hold a king sized bed so Jason could sleep with me and Gianna.

  She was, surprisingly, not put out by the idea, though she hadn’t quite warmed up to it yet. I hadn’t pushed. Too much going on for that, but I knew Jason would win her over eventually, and then we’d officially be in a polygamous relationship with him. It was illegal in all fifty states, but oh, well. What the government didn’t know wouldn’t hurt a damn soul, and really, it was nobody else’s business what we did in the privacy of our own home.

  We’d also need a guest room for family and friends, a room for the baby. A small garden spot out back and a nice, flat spot for a swing set. There was time yet before we had to make a decision, but it was nice to know what we needed, and just as nice to know I’d be able to afford it when the time came.

  The day before the wedding finally made its appearance. Me and Dev and Jason had planned on taking a sedate tour of the bars in lieu of a bachelor party. Ha. Like I had enough friends outside the Vampyr for a party. Everyone else was busy studying and working. Those two were the only ones who weren’t, and Jason should’ve been.

  I held down my couch and flipped idly through TV channels while I waited for them to arrive. No chance of catching up on any of my own studies. My stomach jittered and roiled and my heart skipped and jumped in my chest like a terrarium full of grasshoppers on crack. This time tomorrow, Gianna would look at me and say those two beautiful words. I do. And then we’d endure the congratulations from our small wedding party and come back here with Jason and I’d strip her down one luscious inch at a time and slide into her for the first time in more than two months.

  Please, God, don’t let her change her mind. The sex I could do without, or find a way around, anyway. Gianna’s heart? No chance of living happily without it.

  The doorbell rang. I jolted from the couch and rushed to answer it, threw it open, and gawked. Marco stood on the threshold dressed in a black cashmere turtleneck tucked into well-worn jeans. It was the most casual I’d seen him outside the Red Room.

  “What are you…?” I bit my tongue. Rude didn’t work on Marco, and my mother would smack me if she found out I’d treated a guest poorly. “Is Elizabet ok?”

  “She’s fine.”

  I stared, not sure what to do with him. His eyes were blue. It hit me with the suddenness of a microasteroid punching through the vulnerable plating of a spacecraft. Always before, his eyes had been the flat, coal black of a pet on the verge of turning. Now, they were a deep, rich blue, so beautiful and clear the color left me speechless.

  “Can I come in?”

  The gravelly rumble of his voice startled me into politeness. “Yeah, please. Sorry. I’m a little distracted these days.”

  Not so distracted I forgot to slam down my walls before he took hold of my mind. I tested them while he stepped inside, sliding past me in a wave of soap and spicy cologne and…

  I sniffed subtly again and exhaled a long sigh as the nerves in my gut went wild. Pheromones. Marco was aroused, enough that I could smell it on him, which, come to think of it, wouldn’t have to be by much. My sense of smell had sharpened to the point that normal odors were nearly unpleasant, and subtle ones, like a man’s pheromones, nearly normal.

  “You want some water or a soda?” I asked. See? I could be a good host.

  “Thanks, no. Dev told me to drop by tonight. Something about a bachelor party.”

  “Did he really, or did you bully it out of him?”

  One corner of Marco’s mouth lifted in a smirk. “What do you think, little one?”

  “Quit calling me that. Seriously.”

  He bored holes through me with the sheer weight of his gaze. Marco doing what anybody other than Elizabet told him to do? Fat chance.

  “Why are you really here, Marco?”

  “Do you know what pets do to celebrate a wedding?”

  “Ah, no.” That one hadn’t been covered in the material Elizabet had given me or in any of the conversations I’d had with other pets.

  I was almost afraid to find out.

  His hand snaked out and grasped the nape of my neck in a hard, merciless grip. “Sex. Blood.”

  I winced as my ass throbbed and tingled. It still hadn’t recovered from last time I’d been around Marco nearly three weeks before. “Ah, well…”

  “You need my strength, little pet.”

  “Not so much, I think.”

  He yanked me forward and flashed a wolfy grin, all white, sharp teeth and hunger. “So much, yes. Your time is coming. I’ll help you get ready.”

  The doorbell rang again and I sagged in relief. Marco touched his forehead to mine and projected so strongly, I was steeped in his memory of our time together the week before. Tight, hot, strong. Love Elizabet. Fucking me, pushing up, the shaggy strands of my hair under his giant hand, and my fangs in his throat, giving him a deep, deep pleasure while I drank his life force.

  Make him invincible.

  That last thought echoed in my head even after I’d jerked away from him. I scurried to the door and opened it, afraid to look any deeper into Marco’s complex mind.

  Chapter Four

  Jason and Devin were standing together on the other side of my door. I rubbed a thumb against the bridge of my nose. Talk about awkward. The tension radiating off of them bounced through the small space, ratcheting my nerves into a tight, tangled mess.

  “Come on in, y’all.”

  They stepped past me one at a time, both reaching out to brush against my mind. They’d meant it to be reassuring, but I was getting overwhelmed. Too many men, too many needs. Too much responsibility thrust onto my shoulders in too short of a time.

  I introduced Jason to Marco and ignored the communing look the two shared. Whatever
. Jason could take care of himself. Wasn’t that why I’d chosen him as my favorite?

  I locked up, then we all piled into Devin’s sedan, went to a bar, toasted my upcoming nuptials. The second bar was a little seedier, the toasts a little sloppier. Same with the third, and the fourth. Eventually, somebody got the bright idea to go to a gay bar.

  Imagine. Four bisexual men in a gay bar. Three pets and a vampire to be. Two favorites, a favorite wannabe, and me.

  I was drunk enough to laugh out loud at my own joke. About the groupings, not the gay bar. I’d never been in one before and was curious as hell to find out what it was like, even with my brain dulled by drink.

  Truthfully? It was pretty much like a bar for heteros, except there were a lot more guys hitting on each other. I peered around the bar through the fog of too many toasts as a lump of disappointment settled into my gut. Don’t know what I was expecting, but normal wasn’t it. I swung around to share my disappointment with Jason and found Devin.

  Nonchalant, sweet, lovable Devin. Sophisticated, beautiful. I aimed a sloppy kiss at his mouth and hit his cheek instead.

  He steadied me with one hand as I swayed. “Metabolism isn’t keeping up, is it?”

  “Nope,” I said happily. “Where’s Jason?”

  Devin nodded toward the dance floor. I staggered around, using Devin’s arm as a support, and saw Marco and Jason twined around one another. I blinked a couple of times and tapped against the side of my head for good measure. Yup, they were still there, lip-locked in the middle of the floor. Jason had a hand down Marco’s pants and Marco had a hand on Jason’s ass.

  They looked like they were having a little bit too much fun. Sober hit me with the momentum of a house-sized meteor landing in the ocean. Jesus. What was Marco doing pawing my favorite?

  “When did that happen?”

  “It’s been happening all night.” Devin slid an arm around my waist and nuzzled my neck. “If you weren’t half lit, we could be doing that, too.”

  I stared miserably out at the couple. Yeah, Dev and I could be doing that, and I wanted to, but Jason. What was he thinking?

  “Relax,” Dev said. “It’s a favorite thing. Some kind of imprinting they do on one another, exchanging memories and information.”

  “Couldn’t they do that with words?”

  “Faster to do it this way. Why do you think Marco fucked you the other night?”

  I glared at my mistress’ favorite, whose mouth had moved to the throat of my favorite. “Because he’s a mean, sadistic bastard.”

  Devin laughed. “A little, yes, but also to share his strength and give you the whole of what’s inside him. You’ll be able to do it, too.”

  “I will?” That was news to me. “When?”

  “Anytime now, at the rate you’re growing. Only the strongest of us do.” He looked away. “I’ve never been able to.”

  “You project. All the time.”

  “Projecting and imprinting are two different things, Eric.”

  His expression stayed relaxed and pleasant, but he seemed forlorn somehow. “I’m sorry.”

  “Why?” He gave a half laugh and pulled me closer. “One day I’ll be strong enough for it, just not yet.”

  And he wanted it. The need echoed through our bond, tugging at me, and with it the ghost of a thought.

  If I were stronger, Eric would have chosen me to be his favorite.

  It wasn’t true. Jason was simply the better choice. The cold man was easier to control around him, yes, but Jason had always been mine. In spite of Elizabet’s blessing, Devin belonged to her, would for a long time to come. One day, he’d be forced to choose between the two of us, and when he did, I’d come out the loser. Still, a big part of him was mine, too.

  “I want you to start taking more of my blood.”

  “That’s not…”

  “You’ll do it because you love me,” I said mildly, “and if not that, then because I told you to.”

  He stared out at the dance floor for long moments, his face an empty mask. “It never occurred to me until now that you’re the dominant one in our relationship.”

  “Only in some things.” I cupped his face and pressed a tender kiss to his mouth, that sweet, talented mouth I adored. “Let’s get those two lovebirds home before they start a riot.”

  Not that they would. Marco was even better at deflecting attention away from himself than Devin. Even the beacons in the crowd were ignoring him and Jase.

  I really needed to learn how to do that.

  We ended up at Devin’s snooty townhouse in Druid Hills by mutual, unspoken consent. Three words: King-sized bed. It wouldn’t be long until I had one of my own, big enough for my beautiful bride and my giant of a favorite, but my full-sized mattress wouldn’t hold all four of us.

  As soon as the door closed behind us, we started stripping. By the time we were finished, we’d made it to Dev’s bedroom. Marco sprawled out on his back in the middle of Dev’s bed and gestured for me. “Fuck my mouth the way you did the queen’s.”

  I cut a glare at Dev, who shrugged. Guess Marco had picked that little tidbit up from my mind the last time I’d been at Elizabet’s.

  I straddled his shoulders, slid the tip of my erect dick into his mouth, and braced my hands against the wall. He sucked me into his wet heat and I groaned as his tongue flicked across my sensitive skin. Why did this feel so familiar? His fingers dug into my glutes, pushing me to fuck him hard, and then he smacked my ass. I shuddered and buried myself in his mouth as his blows rained down and his mouth suckled me. Holy mother of God, it was good. The need built swiftly, or maybe it had been lying dormant, waiting for a spark to kindle it. I fucked Marco’s mouth the way he wanted me to, hard and deep and quick, holding back enough to prolong the pleasure, reeling it out little by little for the both of us.

  A low moan sounded behind me. I glanced over my shoulder and breathed out a laugh. Jason was kneeling between Marco’s legs, sucking Marco’s dick into his mouth, his ass in the air. Devin knelt behind Jase, fucking him with a fierce look on his face. I slowed my pace enough to snake a finger along Dev’s mind and nearly laughed again when I caught his single-minded focus. Punish. He was trying to hurt Jason for holding even a small part of my affections, which was just silly. I had plenty of love to go around, though I’d only discovered that well recently.

  Plus, Jason liked it rough. I brushed against Dev’s mind again. Yup, Devin knew that.

  Jason glanced up at me and winked, and I shook my head. They’d work it out. They’d have to. I wasn’t letting either one of them go, not anytime soon.

  Marco’s hand came down on my ass and his mind pressed against mine with the force of a hurricane. Get on with it.

  Patience is a virtue, I countered.

  He hmmd a laugh out around my dick and my eyes rolled back at the pleasure of it, and then he pushed a finger into my anus and a second, stretching the hole pleasurably, rubbing against the place where men love to be touched, and it was over for me. I shoved my cock into his mouth and came with a jerking shudder until I was weak and empty and he was full.

  When I softened in his mouth, he tapped my hip and I moved away, collapsing on the bed beside him. Dev immediately pulled out of Jason and crawled over to me, curling around me with his face buried in my shoulder and his dick brushing against my ass.

  Marco pulled Jason up and onto his back, and shoved into him in nearly one move. Jason arched and strained toward the other favorite, offering his throat, and Marco struck, sinking his fangs in deep pulse while he fucked Jason’s ass hard, rough shoves of his hips.

  Hell, I knew Dev had plenty of lube. Don’t know why everybody insisted on ignoring it.

  Something wet slid along my ass and I yanked away from Dev.

  “Lube,” he said drily.

  “Ha. You da funny man.”

  “I’m the funny man who wants to fuck you. Curl your legs up some more.”

  I did, curling them up so that my ass cheeks were open, exposing
myself for him. He slid into me easily, filling me with his perfect cock, and heat swirled through me. Dev’s fingers found my nipples and his mouth my throat, and I stretched back out, savoring his hard length in my ass.

  “You feel so good,” I whispered.

  “You, too.” He moved within me gently, in and out, back and forth, teasing me. “This is nice.”

  “It’s nice to have sex next to two wild animals?”

  He laughed. “As long as they don’t break the bed.”

  I watched them as Devin fucked me. Jason’s head was thrown back against the pillow, his eyes closed, his mouth open on a long gasp of pleasure. Marco was sucking him dry, fucking him raw. I frowned and brushed my mind along Jason’s. He dropped his hand from where he’d been clawing at Marco’s back and felt along the bed until his hand gripped mine

  A jumble of images and thoughts tumbled toward me from him. Marco will make us stronger. An image of Jason’s first sexual encounter, a…coach? Teacher? No, that wasn’t right. I shook it off and tried to slow the barrage of memories flying past me. Love her, so much. Marco tied to a post, his back mutilated and wet with blood. Jason meeting Gianna for the first time, the leap of his heart, the shy tilt of her head. Protect her, them, we. Me above Marco, wincing from the pain. Proxy.

  I slowed down at that one, pulled it out, examined it closely as Devin’s breaths panted against my neck and Marco dug his fangs into Jason’s throat. What did that mean, exactly? And then I saw it, from Jason’s own mind, a deliberate thought.

  Marco’s too big for Eric.

  Jesus. Jason was trying to protect me by taking Marco’s punishing affections.

  No! Not, quite, almost.

  It was nearly shouted at me, so strong I flinched from it, and then I caught the meaning. Protection, yes, but also imprinting, learning, growing. Strengthening Jason for his own sake so that he could stand beside me as my favorite, watch over me and Gianna and the baby. He was doing exactly what I’d been trying to do by aligning myself with the vampire queen, by taking Marco’s blood, by learning to control the cold man. He was becoming more and preparing himself for the day when I would take my rightful place as a vampire in the world of the Vampyr.