Bonded Hearts

by Tamsin Baker

  “They haven’t told you, have they?” Abigail asked him.

  Fear settled into the pit of Jackson’s stomach as he looked up and met Abigail’s stare once again.

  “Told me what?”

  Abigail smiled, but the worry was still on her face.

  “That you are their third, their mate. The person they have been looking for, for over nine-hundred years.”

  Jackson blushed from the sheer magnitude of what she said. Of course, she wasn’t telling him anything he didn’t already know. He had been told by both Eric and Malcolm the very first night they’d met.

  But Abigail had such a blunt way of speaking that it hit him all the harder.

  “Yes, they have, though I didn’t know they were that old.”

  Her brow furrowed in thought. “Then, what is the concern?”

  He sighed, reaching for an answer that was close to the truth. “I am not sure that I want to share the life they enjoy. To be a creature that drinks blood and lives only at night. And I’m also uncomfortable with their jealous natures. What if I wish to seek out another companion?”

  Abigail stared at him with such a glare that Jackson was forced to look away yet again. Her green eyes were piercing. How did her men survive such stares?

  “Jackson, you and I both know that when you are with your vampires you don’t want anyone else, and you never will again.”

  Jackson opened his mouth to refute her but knew in good conscience he couldn’t.

  “Abigail, I cannot disagree with you, but I still do not wish to become a vampire.”

  Abigail smiled and indicated to herself. “You don’t need to, not for a little while, at least. Just let them feed from you. It’s all they need to begin with.”

  Jackson looked away, his cheeks burning with embarrassment. “I don’t let them feed on me.”

  Abigail gasped, and he turned back to her. “Whyever not? It is the best feeling in the world.”

  She ran her hand along her neck in favourable remembrance, her face glazing over in an enviable way.

  Jackson cleared his throat with a rough cough. “I fainted the first time Malcolm took my blood, and I haven’t allowed it since.”

  Abigail narrowed her eyes again. “So you go to bed with them, but they don’t feed from you?”

  Jackson shook his head. He should have let them, he knew he should have. But it forced a barrier he needed to stop himself losing all control.

  Pity that barrier hadn’t been enough to stop him falling in love with them. Damn it.

  “That is amazing. I didn’t know they had the control to stop themselves from biting during orgasm.”

  Jackson coughed to cover his gasp. Who knew a lady could speak so frankly?

  “Well, they do. I think I must end our relationship soon. They obviously need more than I can give them, and I am still so confused.”

  Abigail gasped, a hand flying to heart in a sign of true horror. “End it? You can’t. You really don’t understand, do you?”

  Jackson stood up and walked over to the whiskey decanter, pouring himself a large drink without asking. His hands shook as he placed the decanter back down.

  The very idea of being parted from Eric and Malcolm forever was enough for all the strength in his legs to disappear.

  His belly quivered from the need to sit down and vomit.

  He needed to be strong, for them, for him. It wasn’t right how he felt about them, how they felt about him. They could find someone else.

  Fuck, he was confused.

  “You selfish bastard.” Abigail’s venomous voice hissed across the room.

  Jackson threw the whiskey down his throat and turned towards her, surprised.

  “Abigail?”

  She was shaking her head and clenching her fists by her side. “I don’t know whether to wring their necks or yours.”

  Jackson attempted to interrupt her, but she held up her hand. “Just shut up and listen to me. Those stupid vampires may not have told you the truth, but I’m going to. Vampires need to find their third mate or they go insane. They cannot live without both parts of themselves.”

  Jackson heard her words and managed to fall onto a nearby chair as his legs gave out.

  Abigail rounded the chaise and stood directly in front of him.

  Jackson’s mind was working too slowly. He didn’t understand what she was saying.

  “What do you mean, Abigail? I’m sure they can find another mate.”

  Abigail growled in frustration and stomped her foot. “Jackson, listen to me, and listen very closely. Eric and Malcolm are almost a thousand-years-old. They have spent over nine-hundred years feeling empty and incomplete, waiting for you. They have another fifty years or so before they actually go insane and kill themselves. There is no ‘other mate,’ that’s not how it works. It’s you, or no-one.”

  Pain seared through Jackson’s chest. No, they couldn’t. He gasped and gripped the armrest of the chair he sat in.

  “Why didn’t they tell me?”

  His pain must have been obvious because Abigail stepped closer and cupped his chin in her hands. She forced his face up, and her green eyes bored into his.

  “Because obviously they wanted you to love them on their own merits, not because you thought you had to. But I’m not letting you off the hook, because I know how you feel, and you’re choosing unwisely. If you part from them, then they will end their lives sooner. They can’t survive without you. You stupid, ignorant Englishman! How do you think you’ll do without them?”

  Tears filled Jackson’s eyes and overflowed down his cheeks. Hot, knife-like pain seared through his body.

  He gulped down the sob that rose into his throat as Abigail’s question settled into his soul. Her green eyes fixed on his, forcing him to do the one thing he had been avoiding—think about how much he truly loved the two vampires.

  “I’ll die...”

  Abigail dropped her hands from his face, grabbed his hands, and pulled him to his feet.

  “Yes, you will. I know what you have been taught, what we have both been told since we were born. That God intended us to only marry one person, love one person. But the love I have for Nathaniel and Michael is not sacrilegious or wrong, and neither are your feelings for your mates. We will have another thousand years to love them, Jackson. Don’t give that up because of some society drivel. We’ll both outlive those vicars a thousand times over.”

  A loud crash and bang sounded, and the next moment Michael and Nathaniel were in the room.

  “What the fuck is he doing here?”

  Michael’s anger was clearly aimed at him, and Jackson collapsed down into the chair again.

  Abigail turned to face her mates.

  “He’s here because I needed to clear up a few things for him. Why? What’s wrong?”

  Michael stepped forward, and Abigail growled.

  “Don’t touch him. Tell us what is wrong.”

  “Eric is close to death, and Malcolm is not far behind him.”

  Jackson surged to his feet. He rounded his little human protector and stood in front of the two angry vampires.

  “They need me. Take me to them.”

  Michael growled in anger, but Nathaniel held out an arm to hold Michael back.

  “You will mate with them to save them?”

  Without hesitation Jackson answered. “Yes.”

  Michael and Nathaniel shared a glance. Nathaniel stepped forward and swept Jackson up into his arms. He would never get used to that.

  “Let’s go.”

  Jackson closed his eyes as they ran through London at a speed his human brain could not absorb.

  When they stopped, he took a deep breath. Familiar smells and the warmth of Eric and Malcolm’s house hit him. It was like coming home. Tears flowed down his cheeks once again, and he wiped them away as Nathaniel set him on his feet in Eric and Malcolm’s bedroom.

  Nathaniel nodded once and disappeared.

  Jackson turned around and absorbed the scene
in front of him. Malcolm sat in a chair by Eric’s bed, pale, dazed, and too thin.

  Eric lay in the bed, in an even worse state than Malcolm.

  How had this happened to them in only two days?

  Jackson walked straight over to Malcolm and straddled his lap. He pulled Malcolm’s head up and kissed his mate on the mouth, thrusting his tongue past Malcolm’s closed lips.

  Malcolm barely moved and Jackson howled in frustration.

  “Don’t you dare give up on me, Malcolm.”

  Jackson slid off Malcolm’s lap and began to strip. If there was anything these two couldn’t resist, it was his body.

  Malcolm turned his head, moving for the first time since Jackson had entered the room. His eyes lit up from the inside, the warmth Jackson so loved about Malcolm beginning to return.

  Jackson turned to where Eric lay in their bed, pale and cold as ice.

  He pulled the blanket off his mate and ripped open the night-shirt that lay on Eric.

  Eric’s beautifully muscled body was wasting away. How long had it been since he had fed?

  Jackson held his wrist to Eric’s lips.

  “Bite me, please. Take my blood.”

  Eric’s pale eyes closed and he didn’t move. A tear slid down Jackson’s cheek. Was he too late to save him?

  “Eric, please.” Tears streamed down his cheeks as he began to beg. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know, and I was so scared.”

  Jackson kissed down Eric’s chest, stopping at the little pink nipples to kiss and bite them.

  When he didn’t get a response, he continued down the flat belly to Eric’s flaccid cock.

  Jackson had always been too afraid to give much pleasure to his mates. He’d believed that if he merely enjoyed what they gave him, he wasn’t a true sodomite.

  But now, all he could think about was all the missed opportunities to worship this beautiful body.

  He took Eric’s cock into his mouth, sucking, licking, and moaning with the pleasure of it. Nothing happened.

  More tears flowed down his cheeks until he crawled back up to Eric’s face.

  “Please don’t leave me. I love you. I love both of you. I’m so sorry.”

  Eric’s blue eyes slowly darkened as they stared at him.

  Jackson turned to Malcolm and jumped from the bed.

  “Bite me. Feed from me, please.”

  Malcolm lifted shaking hands and pulled Jackson close. Jackson tilted his head, offering his neck, waiting for the sweet pinch.

  “Why now, Jackson?” Malcom asked, his raspy voice soft in the large room.

  Jackson pushed himself closer to Malcolm’s mouth and murmured the words that would seal his fate forever.

  “Because I can’t live without you.”

  Sweet heat pierced his neck, and Jackson moaned, his cock hardening as his blood flowed into Malcolm’s mouth.

  He broke off too soon, and Jackson groaned in complaint. “Have more.”

  Malcolm’s head fell back against the chair’s head-rest as though he could no longer hold it up. “Go to Eric, quickly, before the wounds close up.”

  Jackson moved across to the bed and lay across his still mate. His blood dripped down his neck, and he moved as close to Eric’s lips as he could.

  “Please, my love, please. Drink.”

  He rubbed his flesh across Eric’s lips, willing him to take what he needed. After the longest moments of his life, Jackson felt Eric’s tongue against his neck.

  “Oh, thank you.” Jackson cried when he felt Eric’s fangs penetrate his open wounds and begin to drink.

  Jackson lay there and let his mate drink his fill. Just as spots began to flicker in his vision, Eric broke off with a moan.

  Jackson was flat on his back and looking up at Eric before he blinked.

  “You know we’ll never let you go now.”

  He reached up and tweaked Eric’s nipples, feeling the hard cock that pressed against his belly lengthen.

  “I don’t want you to. Turn me, make me yours forever.”

  Malcolm joined them on the bed, and the two vampires shared a glance.

  “No, not yet, Jackson. Soon...”

  Jackson reached up and pulled both of the men towards him. He extended his tongue and licked first Malcolm’s lips, then Eric’s. He wanted to give them everything. He wouldn’t take any more.

  “Kiss me, fuck me, love me. Please.”

  The two vampires groaned, the sound vibrating through Jackson. Nothing had ever sounded so good.

  “Tell us what you want. Shall I kiss you?” Eric pressed his lips down onto Jackson’s, and he surged up. He pressed his cock into the vampire who wanted the words as well as the actions.

  “Yes, Eric, kiss me now, but then I want your cock. Let me suck you, please.”

  The smile Eric gave him was one to remember forever. Eric understood that Jackson wanted to commit to them, wholly and fully.

  Then Jackson felt Malcolm’s lips on his shoulder, and he turned to address his other mate.

  “And you, I want in my arse, Malcolm. Please fuck me. I need both of you at once.”

  Malcolm leant forward and kissed him so softly. “We thought we had lost you.”

  The devastation in Malcolm’s brown eyes was horrible to see, but it reminded Jackson of where they had come from.

  He vowed to himself that he would make it up to them, somehow.

  He shook his head to negate the claim. “No. I’ll never leave either of you again. No matter what.”

  They groaned and flipped him so that he was now on his hands and knees, one vampire at either end of him.

  He should have been scared or felt vulnerable in this position. Instead he was filled with love, theirs for him and his for them.

  “I love you, Eric.” Jackson looked up into the blue eyes of his mate and wrapped a hand around the thick, beautiful cock that was now in his face.

  Jackson then looked over his shoulder at the brown-eyed vampire who was applying oil to his arse.

  “I love you, Malcolm.”

  Malcolm smiled, and one blood-red tear slid down his cheek.

  “As I love you.”

  Malcolm pressed the head of his cock to Jackson’s arse. Fear swept through him, and he pushed it aside with haste.

  Jackson consciously tried to relax his body and opened his legs, ready for Malcolm to take him. He reached out and stroked Eric’s cock several times and wrapped his lips around the head as Malcolm slid into him from behind.

  Burning pain pulsed through him, followed by the most delicious pleasure.

  He was finally theirs.

  Body and soul.

  Malcolm began moving, slowly and possessively. Stroking his back, up and down with long, lingering touches. Jackson tilted his pelvis and felt pleasure shoot into his balls, and his cock throbbed.

  “You feel like life itself. Like paradise. You will never leave us again.”

  He moaned around Eric’s cock that plugged up his mouth and began to suck and lick hungrily. His mate tasted delicious. He explored the cock head with leisure, tracing the large head, tonguing the slit. He dropped his head down, the pleasure from his deep arse fucking beginning to overwhelm him.

  “No, never, Malcolm. Fuck. I’m going to come soon...”

  Eric grabbed Jackson’s head and began to thrust into his mouth. Moaning and gripping his head, Eric began encouraging them.

  “Go on, Jackson. Blast cum all over our bed. Scream around my cock, and swallow me down while Malcolm fills your arse with his seed. You’ll never feel the same way ever again, I promise you. Come for us.”

  Jackson screamed as his orgasm ripped through him. The double penetration of his body stimulated every part of him. He was the conduit that joined them all, and that knowledge pushed him over the edge faster than ever.

  He came so incredibly hard while his two vampires continued to fuck him over and over.

  “Swallow me, Jackson.”

  Jackson braced himself for the flow
of Eric’s cum in his mouth when Malcolm groaned and came into his body.

  His whole body shook as his mate branded him, and then his other screamed.

  Hot cum spurted into his mouth and instead of simply enduring it as he had expected, he loved every second. The taste was sweet and delicious.

  Slowly they disengaged, slipped from both ends of his body and gathered him into their arms. They fell asleep that way, a tangle of arms and legs. Three hearts beating with the knowledge that they were finally bonded as one.

  Epilogue

  Six months later

  Jackson spoke the words he’d been aching to say for too long. “I want you to turn me.”

  Malcolm and Eric turned around to stare at him.

  Jackson began stripping off his clothes. He needed to be naked for this moment, the definitive night of their relationship.

  “I know you both will miss feeding from me, but I don’t want my old life anymore. Let’s move overseas, or we can hide here and live with Abigail. I don’t care. Just make me immortal so we never have to worry about being apart again.”

  He was now naked, and his body was responding to the nearness of his mates. He wanted to be immortal, but there was a bigger reason for his request.

  He had noticed lately that Malcolm and Eric would have days of dizzy spells, nausea, and paleness. No matter how much they fucked or fed on him, he couldn’t stabilise them. He knew they needed him bonded as a vampire, but they were refusing to push him.

  “Are you sure, my love?” Eric, his considerate, beautiful blond vampire was beside him, fangs already extended.

  Jackson nodded. He had never been more sure of anything in his life.

  “Completely.”

  Eric wrapped his arms around Jackson and sank his fangs into his neck. Jackson’s cock throbbed as it hardened. Since he had accepted his mates, he had grown to love being fed from.

  It aroused him, excited him, made him feel wanted and needed.

  Eric kept going, far past the point of normal feeding.

  Jackson’s legs collapsed beneath him, and Eric swung him up into his arms, still feeding.

  Just as Jackson began to black out he felt a warm wrist to his lips and Malcolm’s voice.

  “Drink, our third. Drink.”

  Jackson extended his tongue, and exquisite, thick, blood slid along his taste buds. He opened his mouth further and felt the warmth spread through his body as he attached onto Malcolm’s wrist and drank more and more.