by Lyssa Dering
Seraphim practically runs up the stairs. They creak under his sneakered feet, and I follow at a slower pace, smiling at his enthusiasm. We hit the kitchen first, which is full of windows and natural light.
“Oh shit,” says Seraphim. “We can ask Wish to get rid of the windows.”
“I like them.” Strangely, the sunlight doesn’t bother me much anymore. “They have blinds for nighttime privacy. That’s all we need.”
Seraphim opens and closes several overhead cabinets. “Lots of room.” He opens the refrigerator. “Hey look, no brains!”
I come up behind him, resting my chin on his shoulder. “What kinds of food will we make?” I no longer need brains to live, but I do need food. Seraphim has pushed me to try all kinds of delicacies: hamburgers, sushi, his favorite pepperoni pizza with light cheese and well-done crust. We’ve been eating at restaurants mostly, and ordering room service at the Pink Sky.
Seraphim hums. “All kinds of stuff. Hey, does it snow in Wish City?” He closes the refrigerator and explores the drawers next.
“I don’t think so.”
“Well, we can still make homemade ice cream. It’s super easy and fun and basically the best thing ever.”
“That sounds wonderful, my sweet.” I tried cookie dough ice cream the other day, and it was delicious!
The apartment has a nice-sized living room, a bathroom with a gorgeous claw-foot tub, and one bedroom with a walk-in closet attached. Everything is comfortably empty and free of shadows except for what the sparse but new furniture creates. There are no strange items here, no objects that reek of Wish’s influence or make Seraphim sad.
In the bedroom, Seraphim and I both crouch next to the queen-sized bed and peer underneath it.
“Do you think it leads anywhere?” Seraphim asks.
“Probably not,” I answer.
“I’d feel better knowing for sure.”
I lie down on the carpet and wiggle into the shadows. Under here, there is only more carpet. No drop, and no second bedroom.
I crawl back out. “Nothing out of the ordinary.”
Seraphim smiles. “Perfect. I’d like to be ordinary for a change.” He goes over to the dresser and inspects the drawers. “Will you give me a job at the shop?”
I shrug. “If you want one.”
“Maybe we could do it on a trial basis to see if we can stand spending that much time together.”
I come up behind Seraphim again, this time wrapping my arms around him and kissing behind his ear. “Didn’t you like being cooped up with me in the hotel all that time?”
Seraphim turns around, smirking. “For the most part.”
We did have a little fight about my tendency to leave towels on the floor, but otherwise…
Seraphim hooks his arms around my neck. “I love this apartment.”
I nuzzle my nose with his. “I love it, too.”
“Do you think we’ll grow old together, or will we not age?” He rests his forehead against mine. “I bet we won’t age, and we’ll be here forever.”
I picture going to sleep every night curled against Seraphim, spending our days together at the shop, and having monthly outings to the Purple Lantern to drink amaretto sours and scarf slices covered in Parmesan cheese. I imagine taking walks around the city at dawn and dust, panting and writhing in bed for hours at a time, and kissing good-bye and goodnight and good morning. I will suffer every argument and bad day for all that, I think.
“I would love nothing more than to spend eternity with you, precious.”
Seraphim’s eyes sparkle. “Ditto, baby.”
I realize then we have become the lovers who share knowing, lit-up looks.
A Freebie For You
The Vampire Heir’s First Heat
Eighteen-year-old vampire Lachlan is on the cusp of his first breeding heat. As is custom, he will take a male as his first heat mate to avoid pregnancy, and as the heir of a prominent vampire family, many men vie for his virginity. Lachlan sets his eyes on one man in particular—stunningly attractive and charming Paris, who is eight years Lachlan’s senior and far from virginal.
The Vampire Heir’s First Heat is an erotic short story.
Word count: 3,500
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Also by Lyssa Dering
Lovesick
He’s finally found a man patient enough to woo him. Or is that just part of the experiment?
Quinn Stewart would rather not participate in the first trial for Project Duo, a matchmaking program. But his contract with corporate giant Sociotech obligates him to, and now he’s got a chip in his arm and a gorgeous but intimidating match named Deven. They’re stuck in an apartment together for a whole month with no television, and, Quinn soon learns, doors that lock at night. As the days pass, he and Deven get closer, but are the feelings growing between them real? Or are they being influenced by their chips—chips that might be faulty, or even deadly?
Word count: 11,650
Breaking Hell’s Rules
A sex demon falls for the ultimate forbidden fruit in this M/M paranormal romance.
When genderqueer succubus Reth meets their soul quota and gains freedom from Hell, they decide to take up residence in New Orleans. Immediately, they exchange their female body for a hunky, tattooed male one. Too bad the body comes with an ex-boyfriend, Jude, and a joint lease.
Jude is walking around with a black eye and a bad attitude, and he refuses to believe Reth is a demon. Plus, he won’t move out. Reth doesn’t want to take Jude’s soul, so they show him some succubus action minus the soul-grabbing, hoping to scare him off.
What they didn’t expect was to develop feelings for the mortal. And they never could have predicted just how pure Jude’s soul would be. When Reth unwittingly commits a sin against Lucifer, they’ll need Jude’s help to avoid an eternity of suffering…for them both.
Word count: 25,000
Summer of My Sex Demon
With no job prospects in sight, recent college grad Cade is stuck at home at his parents’ house for the summer. They’ve gone off on a three-month-long cruise, but they’ve left behind a list of strict rules and the ghost of their disappointment. Cade, who has taken his failure to secure a position hard, plans to spend all summer answering job listings.
The incubus stalking the neighborhood, however, has other plans. When he sets his sights on Cade, it’s a mental and physical tug-of-war that they’re both in for, with Cade’s human brain and body no match for the pushy demon. Cade thinks his best bet is to persuade the incubus to leave him alive once he’s done with him, but does the demon whispering sweet nothings into his ear want more than a meal?
Belly Up
Bisexual Alpha werecat Ezra has everything figured out. He’s got a good job, his own place, and a best friend who lets him have sex with her every month during the full moon. Life is perfect.
Until a feral omega shows up outside Ezra’s apartment, helpless and threatening to draw attention if Ezra doesn’t take him in.
Belly Up is an erotic M/M novelette featuring Alpha/omega dynamics, a dash of M/F, and a soft HFN ending. It is not a romance.
Word count: 11,000
Babyvamp
Forty-four-year-old vampire Max lives a mostly solitary existence in an attempt to avoid “vampire drama,” but when he spots abandoned babyvamp Kieran on his way home one night, his pesky conscience demands he rescue him and confront the vampire who turned him. Problem is, Kieran’s creator is Max’s ex-lover James, an emotionally abusive
, older vampire whose very presence throws Max into a heartbeating panic. James isn’t happy that Kieran tattled on him, and he’ll do whatever it takes to keep Max from divulging his offense to the vampire police, including risking Kieran’s life to make Max his rightful guardian. But Max never wanted to be anyone’s guardian. And if Kieran gets his way, he’ll have more than Max’s care and attention. He’ll have his sexual submission, too.
Word count: 28,000
Fangs Like Me
Lane, a newborn vampire, still feels the pain of betrayal. Two years ago, a faithless boyfriend took his life, and now, Lane’s Maker has also left him behind. The pain of separation burns strong when all Lane wants are arms to hold him and enough warm blood to satisfy his voracious appetite. At a shifter party, Lane is drawn to a hunky Alpha werewolf who tries to console him.
Parker is more than a thoughtless hookup. Since his family disowned him for finding boys just as hot as girls, all he wants is someone to love and look after. The sweet little vamp calls to his protective instincts, but he sure is jumpy. Cuddling with boys is new and delicious, but when this boy also wants him as a food source, things get complicated.
Vampires and shifters aren’t supposed to get along, and Parker’s rough dominance triggers bad memories for Lane. But Parker’s wolf wants Lane, and he knows he can give Lane what he needs. Can Lane learn to navigate his past and give the thing growing between them a chance? Or will the very real possibilities of heartache, abandonment, and even death, keep them apart?
Word count: 40,000
fangjunkie27
Shameless vampire addict Eli lives from vampire den to vampire den, securing invites via the vampire/human social network FangFinder. This weekend, he’s signed up for his most extreme adventure yet, a seventy-two-hour party where a contract serves as his voluntary consent to anything the den members decide to do to him.
Strong and silent type Orion is the only member of his den without fangs, a dhampir who wears metal points on two fingers so he can give the human guests what they crave. He uses parties like this one to keep the savage side of his nature in check. When his fellow den members suggest he claim Eli for the weekend, Orion agrees, since the little human is just Orion’s type.
Orion isn’t Eli’s type, though—or so Eli believes. But the pleasure he experiences in the dhampir’s hands is more intense than anything he’s felt with a vampire. Beneath Eli’s bratty nature are secret pains that fuel his addiction. Might Orion be a match for him sexually and emotionally?
fangjunkie27 is an erotic M/M novella with lots of angst, a bit of dubcon, and an HFN ending.
Word count: 22,000
About the Author
Lyssa Dering is an author of erotic M/M fiction. Her work is often romantic, always emotional, and features shifters, vampires, and regular old humans in whatever subgenres inspire her. She seeks to share the kind of fiction she loves to read: intense and addictive with engaging characters and situations.
Lyssa is nonbinary and demisexual and often draws upon her time in the BDSM community when writing intimate scenes. She resides in the Midwestern United States with an aggressively affectionate tabby cat. When not writing, she enjoys livetweeting about the books she’s reading and dicking around in Photoshop.
To learn more about Lyssa’s work, visit lyssadering.com. You can also tweet her @LyssaDering or friend her on Goodreads at goodreads.com/LyssaDering.
