“Thanks. I like it, but it gets lonely by myself.” Matt closed and locked the door behind them.
The deadbolt sliding home made a sharp clicking sound and some of the fear and tension in Harley slipped away. A sense of being in a protected sanctuary struck the ailing vampire. He hated being so weak that he need help from an outside force to do what he couldn’t do for himself anymore. It annoyed him and brought out his harsh, defensive side.
“I like being alone.” His tone was hard and pointed. “Lot less trouble.”
Matt merely winked at Harley, a knowing smile on his handsome, chiseled face. “I can handle a little trouble.”
Matt’s tone struck Harley as possessive, making Harley tense again. “I like my freedom. No chains for me. Ever.”
“Uh huh.” The irritating, secret smile stayed on Matt’s face.
“Seriously.” Harley moved further into the room to gain some distance from his soon-to-be bedmate of the moment. “What’s it get you?”
“Well, let’s see.” Matt tossed his keys onto the fireplace mantle then turned back to stare into Harley’s eyes. “Companionship, acceptance, protection. Maybe even love?”
Taken back by the intensity of Matt’s gaze, Harley swallowed down the bitter reply he’d had on his tongue and muttered, “Right.” It was a struggle but, after a moment, he managed to break away from the mesmerizing teal-colored stare.
Moving to the center of the living area, Harley stood in the middle of a braided circular rug and looked up. A small square skylight showed the starlit sky. A portion of the ever-present moon showed its full face and cratered complexion. Harley slowly spun in a small circle as he examined the ring of symbols painted around the skylight with a perplexed stare. Though they were the same type of symbols as on the floor, these were blue and seemed different somehow.
“You even put a blessing on your ceiling?” He threw Matt a twisted grin. “You’re even weirder than I am.” He looked at the skylight again, then glanced around the room, noticing the lack of any furniture under or near it. “Wouldn’t it be more useful over the bed? Where you could actually watch the sky?”
“Trust me, it’s perfect right where it’s at.”
After a pause Harley shrugged and mumbled. “Just as well. Didn’t fancy watching the sun come up anyway. Even if there was one around here right now.”
Slipping off both coats, Harley threw them onto the nearest chair, smirking when Matt immediately scooped them up off the furniture and hung them on the hooks by the door.
Matt hung his own jacket beside Harley’s. He paused and ran a hand slowly down the sleeve of the yellow parka, his nose only inches from the fabric. After a deep breath he released the coat sleeve and slipped out of his boots, leaving them neatly on a small mat by the door.
Once again Harley got a chance to admire the man’s solid, well-muscled body in better lighting. From the top of his brown-haired head to the tip of his socked feet the man was gorgeous, obviously athletic and powerfully built. Fantasy man come to life.
Resisting a sigh, Harley promised himself he’d leave unannounced in a day or two. In the meantime, he’d enjoy the moment, like always. He couldn’t hope for more than an isolated moment of affection and comfort. A vampire could never have more than that. He tore his gaze away from Matt’s body and looked at his new surroundings. He slipped off his wet boots, leaving them in the middle of the room.
The house had an open floor plan that let Harley see into every corner. The fireplace in the living area still had embers glowing in the hearth. Past a small eat-in kitchen, the back half of the room had been transformed into a bedroom.
A king-sized bed dominated the far corner, box springs and mattress supported on a thick wooden platform that prevented things from getting shoved underneath it. It was covered in a thick pile of blankets with a down comforter folded up against the slatted footboard. It looked soft, warm and inviting. Harley hoped the sheets were clean. For some reason, he didn’t want to smell any other lovers but Matt in his bed tonight.
The rising scent of hormones in the air from both of them told Harley they were wasting time on pleasantries.
“Guess it’s time to pay the rent, huh?”
Without another word he stripped the thin Henley shirt off his torso and tossed it on the floor. His hands went immediately to his belt and snap but two larger hands clamped over his from behind, stilling them before he could get his zipper down.
“Let me do it.”
It was a deep, breathy command that made the hair on Harley’s neck rise. “Sure, if that’s what gets you off, gorgeous.”
Harley shivered at Matt’s touch as the large hands moved up to rest on his shoulders. The touch was gentle but firm, holding Harley in place, but he still flinched when Matt’s fingers found the inflamed skin around the embedded wood between his shoulder blades.
“You’ve got a cut here.”
“Just a piece of wood. Couldn’t reach it. It’ll work its way out eventual— Shit!” A sharp pain stabbed through his back and Harley jerked forward, but Matt’s hand on his shoulder held him in place.
“It’s out.” A gentle touch soothed over the inflamed skin. “Looks infected though.”
“I don’t get infections.” Flexing his shoulders, Harley could tell the wood was gone. The ache and burn were gone too, leaving only a dull throb and a small area of heat. It was still more discomfort than he should have been able to feel. Sighing he admitted, “At least not until recently. It’ll be okay.”
“This will help.”
A wet lap of tongue over the spot made Harley jump but he didn’t pull away. It felt good. “You sure you want to do that?”
Matt didn’t answer, just continued to lick at the wound, even nibbling at the edges. When he was done, he pulled Harley firmly back to rest against him.
Feeling the heat of arousal rise as Matt pressed against the length of his back, Harley closed his eyes and enjoyed the warmth. He felt good for the first time in days. Even the wound on his back no longer burned. Matt began to massage his shoulders, working out the stiff muscles of Harley’s neck and upper back.
The vampire relaxed under the heavy touch, fighting an odd impulse to escape the intimacy. He’d never shied away from a partner before. The urge to run hit him hard, then melted away when wet, nuzzled kisses brushed over his neck and up into his dark hair. He bit off a sigh and leaned back, letting Matt take the majority of his weight. Suddenly the self-imposed isolation of his entire existence paled and an unrecognizable ache bloomed under his breast. He tensed again.
Matt pressed his body more firmly against Harley, his warm breath bathing Harley’s neck and sending shivers across his skin.
The tension in his body eased once more. Harley allowed his head to fall back onto a broad shoulder. Matt brought his cheek to rest against Harley’s, the rough texture of a day’s growth of beard prickling against Harley’s sensitive skin. The burn sent a flash of desire straight to the vampire’s already hard cock. Harley kept his eyes closed and panted to keep his arousal under control.
He inhaled deeply and drew in the scent of the man, earthy and primal, and something else he couldn’t quite remember yet. The alien sensation of being cared for and sheltered accompanied the smell. Rather than making him bolt for a door and freedom, this time a shudder of need rolled through his body so powerful it made him gasp.
Matt slid his hands off of Harley’s shoulders and down his back to his hips. Rubbing gently at the sensitive skin just above the waistline of Harley’s jeans, Matt gradually worked his fingers along the fabric until the snap of Harley’s fly was in his hands. Matt eased the snap open and lowered the zipper, sliding the loose fabric slowly down. There were no briefs under the jeans.
“Let me help.” Harley shimmied his hips, but strong arms grabbed them, stopping the seductive dance.
“I’ve got it. Let me.” It was a throaty command, almost a growl, full of restrained need and want.
A shudder of desire r
aced down Harley’s spine, but he made his voice flip and playful. “Okay by me. If you want to.”
“I want to.” Matt intensified his caress, trailing a line of kisses down Harley’s spine and across each buttock as the globes of pale flesh were revealed. Strong hands roved over every inch of his chest and abdomen, then slid down his legs to push the abandoned jeans the rest of the way off.
Matt slowly dropped to the floor with the pants. While the fabric pooled around Harley’s ankles, Matt caressed and stroked over Harley’s sides and outside of his thighs. He buried his face in the small of Harley’s back and puffed hot breaths into the dip of his spine, sending shivers of anticipation through the vampire.
Wrapping his left arm around Harley’s waist, Matt massaged his way down Harley’s right leg, deftly easing jeans and socks off. He repeated the slow, sensual process with the left leg, then stroked his way back up to rest his hands on Harley’s abdomen.
Matt effortlessly rose from his knees, keeping a hand on Harley’s belly, fingers combing through the fine, dark hairs growing there. Matt’s other hand swirled up Harley’s back, callused fingertips moving over the smooth skin of his shoulder blades. The hand ran down Harley’s spine a dozen leisurely times before Matt suddenly stepped away to quickly shrug out of his own layers of clothing.
Nude, Matt slipped his arms around Harley’s chest from behind again and pulled him backward to press tightly against his body. Settling his growing erection firmly against Harley’s cheeks, he returned his attention to Harley’s neck, nibbling and nipping the sensitive flesh until Harley squirmed and hissed.
The room spun. Harley found himself clamped chest to chest with Matt, a fire of raw need and lust burning in the man’s heated gaze. It matched his own raging desires. He pulled Matt’s head down, pressing his lips hard to the welcoming mouth.
He twisted in Matt’s arms, trying to gain a better hold on the tall, virile man. Lacing the fingers of both hands through the man’s thick hair, Harley sealed their mouths more firmly together, a groan of real desire escaping him.
So engrossed in the delicious sensations of Matt’s dominant tongue exploring every contour of his mouth, Harley barely noticed when he was lifted off the floor. He realized he was weightless for a millisecond before he landed in the middle of the bed and Matt’s weight settled over him, pinning him in place. He wasn’t sure how they got there, but it never interrupted their kiss.
Returning each of Matt’s caresses stroke for stroke, Harley explored the hard-muscled body pressing him into the mattress. He was thrilled by the barely restrained energy the big man radiated in every electric touch.
Harley broke away from the kiss to study Matt’s face. Passion and longing burned in the depths of Matt’s hypnotic eyes and scorched a blazing path of desire straight through to Harley’s cock. Harley darted up to recapture Matt’s mouth in a demanding kiss, eager to take back a little control in their coupling, but Matt overwhelmed him again and Harley surrendered.
It was an old game. Harley didn’t like the Dom/sub scene but he knew how to play it. And in this case, the role might be worth it, even if it was real life.
After long moments of breathless exploration and teasing, Matt broke away to lavish feather-light kisses across Harley’s closed eyelids and flushed face. His gentle ministrations were quickly rewarded with small gasps of pleasure and the thrusting of Harley’s hips. Matt added tiny, sharp nibbles and soothing laps of his tongue to the assault on Harley’s senses.
“Christ, Matt.” Harley’s thrusts became more rhythmic. He ground his full erection against Matt’s answering arousal, hands skimming restlessly over the larger man’s arms and chest. “Come on, man. Do it.”
“Not yet.”
“Why?” Under other circumstances, Harley would have been embarrassed by the whine in his voice.
“Not until I know your name.” Matt took Harley’s face between his hands and stared into his eyes. “Your real name.” The burning gaze intensified. “I’ll know if you’re lying.” His voice was deep and guttural, almost playful, but his eyes held a distinctly serious gleam.
Staring into the teal eyes, a minuscule tremble shook through Harley’s smaller, pinned frame and he found his own response came out unsure. “No you won’t.”
Without dropping his gaze from Harley’s, Matt merely dipped his head slightly as if he was taking a firmer stand. “Try me.”
Harley stared into Matt’s face, studying his features, trying to decide what it was he found so compelling about the rugged man. It wasn’t just his good looks. There was something primal and wild about him that both excited Harley and made him nervous. And defensive. “What difference does it make?”
Placing a chaste kiss on Harley’s out-thrust chin, Matt stroked over Harley’s jawline with his thumbs while still holding the vampire’s face immobile. “I want to know your name before we join.”
“Join?” Harley snorted and tried to turn his head away. This was nothing more than a no-strings-attached bump and grind. The way Matt said ‘join’ gave the act a lot more meaning than it really had. He didn’t know why, but it made him uncomfortable. “It’s only sex.” He squirmed but couldn’t move under Matt’s weight.
“It’s only a name.”
Again the deep voice sent a thrill through him that rocketed to his groin and made his cock ache with neglect. Something about Matt made Harley respond to him on an instinctive level. Unable to pinpoint it, he finally just gave up searching for an answer. His blood lust was rising along with his frustrated libido. He wasn’t willing to spend any more time on the mystery. “Christ, okay. Harley. My name’s Harley.”
“Harley.” A smile split across Matt’s face and Harley was stunned by the way it transformed the handsome face into a gorgeous one. The man’s dark hair was mussed, and strands fell forward framing his tanned face. It made his eyes seem larger and almost luminescent. “Rhymes with snarly. Fits you.”
Peeved at himself for giving in, but not really expecting an answer, Harley demanded, “Need the last name too?”
“I know that one.” Matt gave a small shake of his head.
“No, you don’t.”
Matt’s hips begun making tiny circles that pressed his firm, heavy cock into Harley’s trapped shaft, distracting him. He grunted in frustration when his own hips rose up to increase the contact, seemingly on their own.
“What is it then?”
“Doesn’t matter what it is now. When we’re done here tonight, it’ll be ‘Rush’.”
“You’re delusional.” Harley snorted again, but the calm, decisive look in Matt’s eyes made him shiver and pause for a moment. He tried to laugh it off as all part of the bizarre seduction game that came with bedding complete strangers. Some just turned out to be crazier than others.
“Whatever makes the fantasy work for you, guy.” But his voice trembled and an odd, fluttery feeling settled in his stomach. He pretended it was just his need to feed.
“Wait and see, Harley.”
Without another word, Matt renewed his attack on Harley’s body, suckling, nipping, lapping and rubbing at every sensitive area Harley knew existed on the human body. He gradually worked his way to Harley’s straining erection. He lapped at the crease between Harley’s groin and one thigh, delicately running a rough tongue over the sensitive crease. Wrapping his arms around Harley’s slender hips, Matt pulled him closer and kneaded the taut muscles of Harley’s ass.
Pushing conversation from his thoughts, Harley moaned and his hands wandered restlessly through Matt’s hair, stroking his face and rubbing at his scalp. He thrust up and then pulled away, confused by his own needs. He wasn’t like this with johns. He didn’t respond to every touch and caress like it was the first one he had ever had, but tonight he didn’t need any of his patented fake moans or groans. Matt brought out his true sex drive and kicked it into high gear.
He buried his hands in the mass of thick hair on Matt’s head, following the path of Matt’s head as it dipped and swa
yed, licking over every square inch of Harley’s taut stomach and groin. Just when he was sure Matt was going to give him the best blowjob of his life, the phone on the bedside table rang.
On the second ring, an answering machine in the living area picked up. A woman’s voice drifted to them, but neither stopped what they were doing.
“Deputy Rush? I know you like the night shift best, even on your days off, so I didn’t think it would hurt to call now. Thought maybe I could catch you at home.” A sigh of disappointment reached across the line. “Anyway, Chief Miller wanted me to call and remind you that you agreed to take Deputy Logan’s shift tomorrow night so he can attend the Sheriff’s Ball. Sorry you’re not going. I was hoping to see you there.” Another longing sigh. “Bye, Deputy.”
Harley ignored the first few words from the disembodied voice, concentrating on the delicious feeling of Matt’s tongue on his balls instead. Ignored them right up until their meaning crashed through his sex-addled brain.
“FUCK!” Harley rocketed up and scrambled to pull his lower half out from under Matt’s restraining weight. The strong hands clamped around his hips dug in deep and held on tight while Matt dragged Harley bodily back down.
“Jesus, motherfucking, son of a bitching COP!” Harley kicked and snarled, squirming with all of his remaining vampire strength, livid and outraged with betrayal. “You goddamned, fucking bastard!”
“Just wait a damn minute, Harley!”
Ignoring the firm command, he swung a punch at Matt’s head and was rewarded by having both his wrists pinned to the mattress, each one encased in a firm grip and planted squarely down by his shoulders where he couldn’t get any leverage to twist away. If there had been a scant chance that feeding from the man would have increased his chances of escape, Harley would have bitten Matt.
As it was, he couldn’t even get his head up off the mattress. His vampire strength wasn’t completely gone, but even with it he was overpowered and helpless in Matt’s grip, pinned under the hard-muscled, sculptured body and pressed into the soft, clean bed. Harley supposed there were worse ways to get arrested for solicitation. But this one was going to be a bitch to talk his way out of.
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