Under His Spell (Blanchard Coven 2): An M/M Vampire Romance

by Frey Ortega

  Elijah hadn’t felt a contentment like that for a little while now. And today, even though they were literally just floating adrift in the sea aimlessly, at least they could enjoy creature comforts as though the two of them were on an all-expenses paid vacation. Technically, one could argue that they were on an all-expenses paid vacation, in an attempt to escape the circumstances currently surrounding Bennett.

  People have gone on vacation under worse pretenses, right?

  The microwave gave a little ding, and within moments Bennett sauntered over to where Elijah lay in bed, who was naked save for a pair of cotton boxers. The young warlock then cuddled up against Elijah’s side while cradling a bowl of popcorn.

  Bennett popped a piece into his mouth and offered the bowl to Elijah.

  The vampire smiled, and reached for a handful before popping a piece of his own into his mouth. “So,” Elijah started. “Are you holding up okay so far?”

  Bennett turned to Elijah. “I guess so, yeah,” the warlock replied. “I mean, it’s nice to turn off your brain every once in a while, right? I appreciate the moment to just catch my breath after everything that’s happened. It’s putting some things in perspective, and I guess that makes me really thankful I have someone like you on my side.”

  Elijah was about to lift another piece of popcorn into his mouth, but he stopped mid-motion to stare at Bennett. He blinked. “I didn’t really do anything, though,” he said, sounding a little bit more bashful than he wanted to be. He was certainly caught by surprise by his mate’s praise.

  “What do you mean? You did basically everything for me,” Bennett replied. “When shit hit the fan, you took charge. You were the one who led me here when I didn’t know what to do. I would’ve stayed put and caused even more trouble.”

  “No, you wouldn’t have,” Elijah said. “You’re no trouble at all.”

  Bennett shook his head. “Anyway, you’ve pretty much been the one constant in my life ever since you came charging up to my table, telling me I was your mate.”

  “In fact, ever since I got saved by the coven, all I’ve done is hide. I thought I was healing, but all I’ve been doing is spiral. I’m not completely well yet, I don’t think…but I know that if it hasn’t been for you, I might have already crumbled. Maybe worse.”

  “Wow,” Elijah replied. His hand was still in mid-air, piece of popcorn held aloft close to his lips. His mouth was open, and he probably looked a little slack-jawed in awe right now. All this praise had rendered Elijah almost speechless.

  Almost.

  “Here I thought I was going to get an “I’m alright” and then we would go back to watching your show,” Elijah said, smiling. “But…I honestly don’t know what to say to that. Thank you for thinking so highly of me, I guess?”

  Bennett shrugged. “You don’t have to thank me,” the warlock answered back, his voice soft and shaky with some sort of emotion that Elijah couldn’t quite place, but it warmed him even more, especially as Bennett looked up at him with a glimmer in those beautiful eyes of his.

  “I just wanted you to know how thankful I am that you’re my mate,” Bennett added. “You made me feel safe and secure in a time when all I could feel was darkness, and you became my rock when things started to get even tougher. And you did all of that for me without asking for any reward.”

  “Why would I ask for something like that?” Elijah asked softly, scratching at the back of his head. “You’re important to me. I don’t have to protect you or keep you safe, I want to.”

  Elijah’s confusion must have come across on his face, because Bennett looked away from him and gave a little shrug. “I guess I’m just not used to someone caring about me the way that you do,” Bennett said. “Which doesn’t excuse me from making you feel bad, obviously, and I should have been more mindful about that. I’m sorry.”

  “You have nothing to apologize for,” Elijah replied. “You didn’t make me feel bad. I know it’s going to take some time to get used to everything and it doesn’t help that things just keep piling up at our doorstep. And yes, it’s our doorstep. Not just yours and not just mine. After all, we’re in this together. Forever, if you’ll have me.”

  “I wasn’t gonna say anything,” Bennett joked, though the smile on his face slowly grew. He leaned closer against Elijah, laying his head against his mate’s chest. “I know that now. I’m not comfortable with it yet, but…I’m learning to be. Mating isn’t something I’m used to. I know of it, but it hasn’t been ingrained in me the way it has been for you.”

  “Good,” Elijah answered back, grinning. “Now, I’m gonna do something I’ve wanted to do since the day I told you that you were my mate.”

  Bennett tilted his head, looking confused. “And what would that be?”

  The smaller male looked up at Elijah, confusion still clear in his expression, who only smiled at him in return.

  Elijah then leaned forward until he was mere inches away from Bennett’s face.

  “This,” the vampire then said, his voice so soft and low, it was barely a whisper. He gently rubbed his thumb against Bennett’s cheek, and then closed the space between them with a kiss.

  But not a soft one—he wanted to convey everything he felt. Elijah wanted Bennett to know just how much the warlock meant to him in this one kiss—as if this was all they were going to have.

  Elijah swiped his tongue against the seam of Bennett’s lips, and placed both his hands on either one of the younger warlock’s cheeks, drawing him closer, and then wrapping his arms securely around the smaller man’s back to draw their bodies tautly together.

  He hadn’t been lying when he said he’d wanted to do this to Bennett for a while now. He’d thought about it—hell, he’d dreamt about it—and even though they’d shared small kisses before, it was the first time that it had been this deep.

  This all-consuming.

  This passionate.

  At first, Elijah thought it had been a mistake to do this so suddenly, so abruptly—maybe Bennett wasn’t ready yet, and he had pushed his luck—but then he felt Bennett’s hands on his shoulders.

  And those hands weren’t pushing Elijah away. No, in fact they were drawing him in more and more. Bennett’s fingers curled into his shoulders, indenting his skin. The warlock pulled him closer. The warlock’s tongue slid against his gently, slowly—tentatively—against his. It was like Bennett was finally allowing himself to enjoy the moment, and to explore.

  This kiss felt just as good as Elijah imagined. He was in heaven…and then he was brought right back to earth when he felt Bennett press up against him so that their chests were flush together. And of course, the popcorn almost toppled over until Elijah grabbed a firm hold of the bowl with ease, and set it aside on the nightstand without even looking.

  Bennett moved in close enough that their bodies pressed together, and the shudder of desire that went through Elijah’s body was strong enough that he had to hold on to his mate. Bennett’s kiss tasted sweet, and every time their lips parted so that the two of them could take a moment just to breathe, it made Elijah yearn for more. Parts of him more than others, as his cock slowly stirred to life.

  Were they finally going to do it?

  Were they finally going to connect—to consummate?

  Elijah didn’t know, and while the prospect of it was exciting, he didn’t want to push his mate to do something the warlock didn’t want to. Still, just the idea was enough to make him grin against Bennett’s lips—and the excitement built up inside him, and his heart thundered in his chest like tribal war drums just playing in steady rhythm.

  When the two of them finally pulled away, Elijah looked down and saw Bennett’s eyes still closed. He had a smile on his face too.

  “Wow,” Bennett whispered breathlessly.

  “Yeah,” Elijah agreed. “Wow.”

  Bennett turned to look down, a soft pink appearing on his cheeks. “I’ve never been kissed like that.”

  “I would hope not,” Elijah replied, grinning. “I w
ant to be the only one to make you feel this way.”

  “Well, you’ve definitely succeeded,” Bennett said, smiling right back. The way those eyes glimmered pushed some part of Elijah to nuzzle into Bennett’s neck like some sort of werewolf marking his mate, and he breathed in the warlock’s scent. His arms wrapped securely around Bennett’s waist, pulling the smaller man even closer until Elijah was basically settled into his lap. Elijah might not have had a bestial side, but if he did, he would be showing it right now.

  He had to anchor himself to the moment, and not get ahead of himself with how excited he was.

  Breathe in. Breathe out.

  He centered on the way Bennett felt against him, and the way the smaller man smelled. There was a clean scent with just the tiniest undercurrent of peppermint from Bennett’s lotion, and it made Elijah smile even wider. His heartbeat steadied. His erection—now at full mast—didn’t seem as painful as earlier.

  His mate smelled amazing. And it wasn’t just because they were mated, too.

  “God, how am I so lucky to have you?” Elijah asked softly, his nose still pressed against the crook of Bennett’s neck. “I want to make love to you right here. Right now. I want to claim you, and bond with you so badly that I can feel my fangs itch. But I’m trying to be patient. I don’t want to force you.”

  Bennett was quiet for a long moment, and only gently combed his fingers through Elijah’s short brown hair before he finally spoke. “You’re not doing anything I don’t want you to. I know that if I said no, you’d stop.”

  Elijah looked at Bennett, and blinked. “Are you giving me your explicit permission to do this?”

  There was a long moment that seemed to stretch an eternity, especially to Elijah who was becoming more and more excited by the moment.

  “Yes, I’m giving you my clear consent,” Bennett said, fighting off a chuckle. “Do you need it in writing, too? Do I need to call a lawyer? Will I have to get it notarized?”

  “Cheeky,” Elijah replied. “Am I rubbing off on you?”

  “You wish, you pervert,” Bennett joked, and Elijah snorted.

  “Ha ha,” Elijah fake-laughed. “But I’ve rubbed off many times because of you.”

  Bennett nodded. “I…may or may not have also done this a couple of times, too.”

  “Oh? This is the first I’ve ever heard of it,” Elijah replied. He leaned forward, until his voice was just the softest tickle of a whisper. “Tell me more.”

  “There’s not much to tell!” Bennett said, trying his hardest not to laugh as he pulled away from Elijah. The vampire had to yank him back toward him, with Bennett easily settled once more into Elijah’s lap, this time facing away from him and settling that pert little rear into the crook of his body. “I just think about you sometimes when I’m alone, and I wonder about you. That’s all. Nothing lewd about it. No sir.”

  Elijah grinned. It was totally a lie, but it was a cute one. He’d let it slide. One day, Bennett would be more comfortable telling him about his fantasies. “How very precious of you.”

  Bennett pouted. “Don’t tease me too much. I might get mad.”

  “Sorry. I wouldn’t want to make my mate angry. Well, I can perfectly describe what I think about when I think about you,” Elijah said. “Do you want to hear about it?”

  Bennett’s eyes widened until he looked like a deer caught in headlights. His cheeks turned a soft shade of pink as he bashfully turned away. “Uh…”

  Elijah felt the smile on his face tug on the corners of his lips, widening. “So?”

  “O-Okay,” Bennett finally said. His breath was shaky, and Elijah thought it was cute how nervous his mate had suddenly gotten. “I guess I’m not not-interested in hearing it.”

  “A double negative. I’ll take that as a ‘yes,’ then,” Elijah replied, the smile on his face growing even bigger.

  “Oh, God, yes,” Bennett answered back. “I just didn’t want to seem overexcited.”

  Elijah chuckled. “Well, I think about sliding in between your legs,” Elijah said, his voice low as he moved his hands from around Bennett’s waist, tracing his fingertips slowly across the smaller man’s hipbones and down to the sides of his thighs. “I think about tracing my tongue up and down slowly, and watching the look on your face when I slowly lick over your balls, and up your cock…”

  “You’re sucking me?”

  “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

  Elijah then turned to look at Bennett, who had stiffened slightly in his grasp. It was like the tension was slowly building inside of the younger man’s body. Hell, Elijah could even hear the thunderous rhythm of Bennett’s heartbeat thrumming in excitement. It was an unmistakable sound that made Elijah grin.

  It was like music to Elijah’s ears.

  “O-oh,” Bennett whispered softly, almost breathlessly. “And then…and then w-what would you do?”

  The shakiness in Bennett’s voice was enough to rouse the mischievous side in Elijah. It made him want to tease Bennett even more, and when he leaned forward, it took all the willpower inside him not to act on it.

  But by God, did he want to do something. Anything, really, to try and coax even more of a reaction out of his mate. Instead, he channeled his energy into his words. He closed his eyes and imagined what exactly he wanted to do to the warlock wrapped in his arms.

  “Then I stop, and look into your eyes, and slowly wrap my lips around your cock. I’ll suck just softly enough for you to beg and plead for me to go faster and harder. But I’ll go gentle and slow at first, because I want to see you squirm a little bit.”

  “Th-that sounds really mean of you,” Bennett answered, voice still shaky and breathless. “Bu-but… really hot.”

  “Mhm,” Elijah replied, smiling softly as he pressed his stubbled cheek against the crook of Bennett’s neck. “As you may well know, I’m a bit of a jerk and a bit of a tease.”

  “I am very well aware. More now than ever before,” Bennett said softly. “It’s…h-hot. Sorry. I know I said that before. I can’t really find the right words right now. I’m kind of speechless, I guess.”

  Elijah laughed. “You’re fine,” he said. He then leaned forward a bit, and without warning, he dragged his tongue slowly across Bennett’s neck. He was never very good at impulse control, he only had to do it because he didn’t want to scare Bennett off.

  God, but Bennett did taste delicious. Elijah shivered. The desire to plunge his fangs into Bennett’s silky-smooth neck was all-consuming. He wanted to form that bond with his mate—he wanted it so badly that it felt like a very real ache settling in his chest.

  God, he felt like such a werewolf right now—fangs itching against his gums, head clouded with the desire to mate. It wasn’t a good look, especially since he was trying so hard to maintain his composure.

  Certain parts of his body weren’t listening, though. His cock was raging, and he was pretty sure he was poking Bennett’s ass with it, even between the admittedly-few layers of fabric between them.

  Bennett shivered and leaned back against Elijah’s body. “O-oh…” came the heated, breathless whisper from the young warlock’s lips.

  Elijah pulled away with just enough sense of mind to speak. Every inch of him wanted to lay claim to his mate right then and there. It was like he had been reduced to a creature of baser urges simply because he was around his mate. Not only that, but the prospect of actually claiming the man was within arm’s reach, and it excited him in a way nothing had ever before.

  He wanted to make sure this was going to happen.

  No. He needed to make sure this was going to happen.

  Especially because this felt like it was too good to be true.

  “Are you sure you want to do this? I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop,” Elijah warned.

  The smile on Bennett’s face seemed even warmer than before, if that were possible. “Yes, I’m sure. I know you’ve been holding back because of me. I want you to know that you don’t have to. I want you too, Elijah. I
think I’m as ready as I’ll ever be, and I don’t want you to continue to wait for me. I want to be able to do something for you, too.”

  Elijah paused, staring at his mate for a moment. He sighed and slowly raised his hand, cupping the side of Bennett’s face. “You know you could achieve the same result by buying me dinner when all of this is over, right? Or by getting me a gift. I don’t want you to think that I’m doing all of this to try and get you to put out. I’m not some douchebag from the 50’s.”

  The young warlock laughed. “I know you aren’t. This is something I want to do too,” Bennett replied. “The idea of being able to do those naughty things with you is…exciting, to say the least. Especially after you’ve teased me so much.”

  Elijah couldn’t help the slight ache he felt from his ear-to-ear grin.

  “Then why don’t I let you take the lead this time, so you can set the pace?” Elijah asked.

  Bennett blinked as he turned to look right at his mate. “What?”

  “You heard me,” Elijah replied, smirking. “Take the lead for us. You’re in control.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Bennett couldn’t believe what was happening right now.

  Did Elijah just tell him what Bennett thought he did?

  Surely that couldn’t be right.

  Bennett hadn’t even realized he had been sitting there, staring at the vampire like some kind of slack-jawed idiot until Elijah cleared his throat, leaned forward and placed a hand on Bennett’s shoulder, to pull him from his thoughts.

  “Do you not want to?” Elijah asked. “I could take the lead if you want, but I figured letting you set the pace would make it easier on you.”

  “No, it’s not that.” Bennett shook his head. “You would do that for me?”