by Kell Amber
Jaks stepped forward and grabbed Quentin’s wrist, pulling him close. “Every drop of you belongs to me. Do not offer it so freely to others. This is the second time you’ve offered yourself to another man.”
Quentin opened his mouth to object, but technically Jaks was right. “I’m sorry. I guess I didn’t think of it that way. I was just trying to get out of here and back to you.”
Jaks’s mouth twitched. “You think to distract me with your beauty.”
Laughter escaped Quentin before he could stop it. “I can honestly say I’ve never distracted anyone with my looks.” He wasn’t ugly by any means, but he didn’t make heads turn when he walked by either.
“Then the world is peopled by fools.” Jaks wrapped his arms around Quentin’s waist and pulled him closer to speak in his ear. Jaks’s raspy tone sent shivers down Quentin’s spine. “You are the most gorgeous creature on this earth, and I will fight to the death to keep others from taking advantage of you.”
Before Quentin could comment, Jaks kissed him. Quentin probably should have put up a token protest, but he’d missed Jaks while he’d been trapped and had thought he would never see the sexy vampire again. That Jaks had broken through to rescue him went pretty far in Quentin’s books.
Heat poured through him as if Jaks were sharing the warmth of his soul. Quentin melted against Jaks’s firm body and let the vampire take his weight. For the first time, he considered life with Jaks as possibly welcome instead of being a burden to slough off as soon as he could.
When they broke apart, Quentin licked his lips, hungering for more.
Jaks cupped Quentin’s face between his strong fingers. “Let’s go upstairs. We need to figure out who among my people could’ve placed such a trap. Maybe your wolves can hunt them down.”
Jaks’s hard expression didn’t promise good things for the person found guilty of trying to trap Quentin below.
“We don’t know for sure that it was meant for me.”
“It was made to trap magic. We don’t exactly have a lot of magic users wandering about. You are too forgiving, my sweet.”
Quentin wasn’t sure about that, but he didn’t want to jump to conclusions. He turned to the wolves. “Hunt for the caster.”
If the wolves tracked down the person who placed the spell, maybe Quentin and his friends could get the entire thing resolved and then could work on trying to break the wolves free from their curse.
Lars tilted back his head and howled.
Before Quentin could say anything about not killing the caster, the wolves took off.
“Do you think there will be anything left of the magic user once the wolves are done?” Grevin asked curiously.
Quentin shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Serves them right if they’re torn apart.” Jaks’s hard tone didn’t sound like he was kidding.
“But then we wouldn’t know why they did it,” Quentin reminded him.
Jaks slid a hand through Quentin’s hair as if reassuring himself that Quentin was fine. “Sometimes people are just assholes. There isn’t always a deep meaning behind what someone does.”
Quentin thought that in this case there had to be a connection to Jaks, because if nothing else, it had happened in his manor. “Someone doesn’t want me by your side. Do you have anyone who is jealous of your claim on me or upset that I captured the last guy?”
“Everyone is happy Vlad is gone.”
“I doubt it,” Grevin said. “For every psychotic leader, there’s always at least one superfan. I wouldn’t be surprised if Vlad’s followers want Quentin gone. Maybe we should investigate the wolves’ curse somewhere else.”
“No! Quentin stays with me.” Jaks’s eyes glowed, and an eerie light sparked in the middle.
“Take it easy, vamp. I don’t want to fight over Quentin. I’m just his friend.” Grevin’s normally mocking tone had taken on a soft lull.
“No one is trying to take me anywhere.” Quentin stroked Jaks’s chest and tried to ignore the hard body beneath the well-tailored suit.
Jaks glared at Grevin. “Good.”
The necromancer and the vampire were involved in a staring match. Quentin wasn’t certain Jaks would win—Grevin could hold his own against pretty much anyone, but Lars’s howl snapped them out of it.
“Let’s go see what the wolves have found.” Jaks grabbed one of Quentin’s wrists on his way out the door, dragging him along.
“I can walk on my own,” Quentin offered.
“No, I want everyone to see you with me. They need to get used to you being by my side. You’ll be a member of my family from now on, and they will accept you or leave.”
“But some of these people have been with you for a long time, right?” Quentin had no choice but to hurry along, not wanting his arm pulled out of his socket from Jaks’s hurried march.
“They could have been with me a hundred years and not be as important to me as you. You don’t understand, Quentin. Once a vampire meets his match, no one else will ever be as important. I didn’t just pick you because I wanted a wizard. I picked you because I could pick no one else.”
Quentin didn’t know what to say about that. He would have to brush up on his vampire lore. He didn’t truly understand vampire nature and kept misunderstanding Jaks.
They came to a halt when they found the wolves, who stood staring at a solid wall.
“Either the magic wielder made another door disappear or they can walk through walls.” Quentin could make an argument either way.
“Let me see.” Grevin pushed his way forward and muttered a quick spell. The wall swirled pink for a second before turning back to its normal color. “Whoever it was has left. Who did you upset this time?” he asked Quentin.
“Do you have a lot of people after you?” Jaks asked.
“You’d be surprised. They seem to be adding up.”
He didn’t count the fae queen. She didn’t need to trap him; she could kill him at any time.
“I’m going to have to get a tracking spell put on you, that way I’ll know where you are at all times. We won’t have this problem again.” Jaks’s tone indicated he didn’t expect Quentin to argue. Quentin wisely didn’t comment. “Come with me,” Jaks ordered.
Exhaustion beat at Quentin. “Maybe I should just go home.” Too much had happened over the past few days. He wanted a long rest and not to worry about anything until the next morning. Luckily, he didn’t have any classes tomorrow.
“Come on, sweet. You can come sleep in my bed.”
“I don’t know that I’m good for anything else.” Quentin’s eyes were starting to slide shut. He’d expended too much energy over the past few days.
“I’ll determine what you’re good for. Do you want anything before you come to bed?”
“No. I’m not hungry.” Quentin couldn’t remember the last time he ate, but he couldn’t imagine eating anything right then.
“Braed, see that Grevin gets a room and have some food sent to my suite.”
“I told you I’m not hungry,” Quentin grumbled.
“What if I am? I can’t have you undernourished.”
Quentin shoved his hands in his front pockets. “Yeah, sorry. I didn’t think of that.”
When would he remember that he was food for Jaks? He’d forgotten his one function. Jaks didn’t need him for anything but his blood.
“You forgot why you’re here,” Braed said. A smirk curved his lips.
“Way to be an asshole!” Grevin snapped.
Jaks slid a hand around the back of Quentin’s neck. “Quentin is more than food for me. He is everything. Remember that when you address him.”
“Yes, sir.” Braed bowed low to Jaks and then to Quentin. “I’ll go make sure everything is as you requested. If you’d come with me, Mr. Grevin, I’ll find you a place to stay.”
Quentin didn’t speak again. The wolves bared their teeth as Braed walked by.
Braed eyed them warily as he hurried past.
Grevin foll
owed more slowly. “I’ll see you in the morning, Q. We’ll figure this out.”
“Okay.” Quentin’s heart hurt.
Jaks squeezed Quentin’s nape. He leaned down to speak directly into his ear. “Don’t pay any attention to what anyone says but me. You are my everything, and I will show you how much every time you start to doubt me.”
“Jaks, you don’t know me. How can you want me so much?”
Jaks’s eyes glowed. “Because when a vampire meets the perfect one, they know. I knew when I saw you that we would be bound together.”
“But what if you’re wrong?” Quentin didn’t believe in fated connections. “What if you get to know me and you decide I’m not the one, after all?”
Jaks slipped two fingers beneath the chain around Quentin’s neck. “When I put this around your neck and it didn’t kill you, I knew you were mine.”
“Wait! It could’ve killed me?” Quentin’s mouth dropped open.
“No. Because I knew you were mine.” Jaks kissed Quentin, not giving him time to speak again.
A cough had Quentin lifting his head away. He turned. Three vampires were staring at them.
“Go away,” Jaks grumbled.
“Are you going to introduce us to your consort?” the vampire in the middle asked.
“No.” Jaks lifted Quentin into his arms. “We’re going to spend the evening bonding instead.”
“Is that what we’re calling it now?” Quentin asked.
Jaks grinned. “Yes.”
A blur of speed had the world tilting around them. By the time Quentin’s vision cleared, they were standing beside a set of double doors. Jaks set him on his feet.
“Not going to carry me inside?” Quentin asked.
To his surprise, Jaks didn’t smile back. “No. Everything from now on has to be with your consent. I want you as invested in us as I am.”
Quentin stared at Jaks. “And if I’m not willing?”
“Then I will take back my necklace… and mourn you for the rest of my life.”
Quentin stared. “You’re not serious.”
“About what?”
“How you’ll never get over my leaving. I mean, it sounds romantic and everything, but there are other guys out there. I’m nothing special.” Quentin couldn’t hide his horror. How could he be Jaks’s only chance?
Jaks pressed Quentin against the door, aligning their bodies until Quentin could feel every delicious, muscled inch. “You don’t understand, do you, Quentin? Vampires can have as much sex or as many partners as they want, but there is only one person made specifically for them. Once they find their one, everyone else fades away.”
“But what if I’m killed? What happens to you then?” Quentin tried to concentrate on his words, but Jaks’s scent filled his nose and he had to use all of his concentration not to press his face against Jaks’s neck and inhale. He could roll around in Jaks’s smell forever.
“I die. Once we’re bonded, if you die, I’ll no longer have the will to go on.”
Jaks’s eyes didn’t show an iota of humor. He fully believed what he told Quentin.
“That’s a lot of responsibility to place on another person.”
“It is. But once we bond, you will be harder to kill as well. I’ll also be happy to transform your mother.”
The thought of his mother getting better had Quentin’s heart racing, but “I don’t think she could survive transition even if she wanted to be a vampire.”
“She could. It would actually be easier to transform her since she is closer to death. Talk to her. If she is willing, I’ll have someone change her.”
“Not you?”
“No. If I changed her, that would make me her sire—like a father—and since I’m your mate, it would make relations awkward.”
“Whom would you pick?” Quentin didn’t like the thought of a strange vampire draining his mother.
“I would ask for volunteers. I expect many would offer because they want to curry favor with me.”
“Oh.” Quentin wanted to rush to the hospital and talk to his mother right away.
“Quentin.”
“What?” He brought his focus back to the beautiful man still pressed against him.
“Stay with me. I don’t want your mother to be between us. If you choose not to be mine, I will still transform her because of the favor you did, taking out Vlad. Don’t pick me just to save your mother.”
Quentin flushed. “Can you read my mind?”
Jaks chuckled. “No. But you aren’t that hard to figure out. Anyone who would take on the dangerous job of hunting vampires to pay his mother’s medical bills wouldn’t think anything of binding himself to one to save her. Although I admire your dedication, I’d like some of that pointed toward me.”
Quentin didn’t know what to say. “I appreciate you giving me the option. I do. I’m very attracted to you, Jaks. And I will tell my mother about your offer.” He went to his tiptoes to kiss Jaks.
After a brief hesitation, Jaks groaned and took over. The sweet brush of lips turned into an all-out assault. Jaks slammed Quentin against the door, rubbing their erections together through the layers of their clothing.
A low, frustrated groan rolled up Quentin’s throat. He grabbed Jaks’s shoulders and pushed.
After several more kisses, Jaks allowed the separation. “If you are turning me down, you are failing spectacularly, my sweet.”
“We know I have a lot of enemies after me. If we’re going to bond, you should know this.” Quentin didn’t want either of them to come into this with anything less than full disclosure.
“So do I, and mine have teeth.”
“Mine have a lot more.” He waited to see if Jaks would say anything more, but when he remained silent, Quentin continued. “Fine. Let’s bond.”
Jaks laughed. The rich chuckle curled around Quentin like a warm blanket. “You are completely delightful, my sweet—and absolutely mine.”
Before Quentin could say anything, Jaks lifted him up and draped him over one shoulder. “What happened to walking under my own steam?”
Jaks slapped Quentin’s ass with a playful swat. “Are you saying no?”
“No.”
“Good.” Jaks opened his door and walked through.
The scent slammed into Quentin before they’d taken more than two steps. “Put me down!”
Immediately Jaks set Quentin on his feet.
“Stay right there,” Quentin ordered, though without much hope Jaks would obey. Jaks hadn’t shown a great tendency to do as directed.
“What’s the danger?”
“Someone has been in here. I can smell their magic.” Quentin waved his right hand in a complicated pattern. Gold sparkles lit up the room and then settled in a thick layer over Jaks’s desk.
Jaks pointed at his desk. “What does that mean?”
“Whatever they were looking for, they must’ve thought they’d find it there.”
“I wonder why… I don’t keep important papers in there. Those are for casual letter writing.”
“What, vampires don’t have email?”
“Some old-school vampires don’t have computers or don’t trust them. I have a few old mentors I still correspond with who prefer the old ways.”
“Why would it matter if you sent them a letter?”
“It wouldn’t, unless the older vampires were looking for someone.”
“Hmm.” Quentin used his magic to continue his investigation of the desk. A hard object met his search. “Oh crap.”
“What?”
Quentin grabbed Jaks’s wrist. “We need to get out of here.” He pulled his magic and wrapped it around both of them. Desperate to escape, he powered through the teleportation blocks. Seconds before they teleported, the sound of an explosion deafened Quentin.
They landed in his mother’s living room. Quentin shook his head, willing his hearing to return. Everything echoed in his head.
“What the fuck just happened?” Jaks shouted.
&
nbsp; “Someone tried to bomb you. I thought they were after me, but maybe they were hoping to trap me in the storeroom to allow them to attack you.” The novel idea of Quentin not being the target was still sinking in.
“It’s possible. Maybe now isn’t the time to claim you, after all. I don’t want to bring you into my danger.”
Quentin stepped away from Jaks and began to laugh. “I have bone wolves following me around, a stepmother who hates me and happens to be the fae queen, a freaky vampire that tried to kill my closest friend, and my mother is dying. You think you can add anything more? You need to step up your game if you think you’re even a contender.”
“Oh, is that right?” Jaks walked over to Quentin and slid his fingers into Quentin’s hair before pressing a soft kiss to his forehead. “I think I have enough game to join the ranks.”
Before Quentin could speak again, Jaks kissed him on the mouth. No, kiss was too gentle of a word for the complete devouring of Quentin’s body and soul. In that moment, he would’ve offered Jaks anything he wanted, anything at all. Quentin had always read those books where the hero melted, and he had scoffed at the description. Now he knew what the authors meant. Quentin could easily give up his will, his life, his everything to Jaks if Jaks asked.
When they finally broke apart, Quentin almost cried at the separation.
“I’d give you up in a second if it meant keeping you safe, but the more I know you, my sweet, the more I think you will need me in order to make it past the next day. You are a trouble magnet, and it will take my entire clan to keep one small wizard out of danger.”
“I’m not small. You’re just a behemoth,” Quentin grumbled.
“Of course, my mistake. How about we start that bonding now?”
“Shouldn’t we let everyone know we’re safe?”
“My people already know. They would feel my death. Once I took over the leadership, I connected everyone together with a psychic link. They can only feel what I let them, but they would know if I were permanently gone.”
“Would it hurt them?” If the vampires would feel pain at the death of their leader, it might eliminate a vampire as a suspect.
“Not really. They would feel deep sorrow, but it would pass quickly unless they had a more permanent connection to me. If I had sired them, they would suffer.”
