Thicker than Blood

15. Geordi

CHAPTER 15

Geordi

I ’m aware that I should be highly concerned about Elias’s unsettling effect on me. I literally just asked him to fuck me in a public place, breaking every rule I work so hard to obey. But I can’t be bothered to stop this from happening. Is it really the vaccine making me ignore all my morals, or is there something deeper connected to Elias?

He rubs his thumb across my chin. “You’re thinking so hard.”

I nod, stuck on his glowing gaze. “I’m always thinking hard.”

Elias chuckles. “Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.”

He leans close as if to kiss me, but I’m jolted backward by sudden clarity and awareness.

“Are you alright?”

I squeeze my eyes closed for a second, literally feeling the vaccine wear off. “The vaccine.” I blow out a breath. “It’s done.”

His brow creases. “I see. Does this mean an end to our interlude?”

This is the part where I’m supposed to say yes, apologize for being a dick tease, grab Enyo, and get the hell out of here, but instead I slide my hand up his thigh. If this is my only chance to follow through on my obsession with him, I’m taking it.

“Can’t you tell what I’m feeling without me saying it?”

Elias tilts his head, gazing into my eyes. I feel the intrusion as clearly as I did with Lucius, but instead of fighting it, I simply give in.

A sexy smile spreads across the vampire’s lips. “It seems you have no desire to leave.”

Digging my teeth into my bottom lip, I nod. “Right.”

“Mm, my little rule breaker. I like it.”

“Were you gonna kiss me?”

“I was, yes. Come here. On my lap.”

I climb onto his lap, straddling him with my arms draped around his neck. This time I’m fully in control of my impulses, but that doesn’t stop me from closing my eyes and bracing myself for his kiss. Will he be soft and gentle with me or rough and aggressive? Should I tell him my deepest secret or let him discover it on his own? Can he sense what I’m thinking right now?

Just as Elias brushes his lips over mine, a loud crashing noise shakes the floor and an ear-piercing howl rattles my nerves so much I bite down hard on my tongue.

“Fuck,” I mumble as my mouth fills with blood.

Elias stands effortlessly, hooking his arm under my butt to keep me stable. “What the fuck is going on?”

Benicio is there in a flash. “It’s handled, sir. An incubus bit a wolf shifter, but they’ve worked it out.”

“Do I need to be involved?”

“Not at all.” His eyes flicker across me and he slightly smiles. “Attend to your guest.”

Elias nods, inhaling slightly. “You’re bleeding.”

“My tongue,” I mumble still. “I bit it so hard it feels swollen.”

“Let me see.”

I open my mouth and stick my tongue out, my breath hitching as Elias’s eyes glow and his fangs descend right before my eyes.

“Gods,” he whispers.

Before I can say anything, he grips the back of my neck and presses his tongue to mine before sucking it into his mouth. And I do mean suck. My tongue gushes an unholy amount of blood but Elias laps it up, moaning sinfully as his hands glide up and down my back.

My cock swells, and it’s like my body responds to the vampire’s hunger, producing a ridiculous stream of blood to feed him. As some of it escapes my lips onto my chin, Elias quickly catches it with his tongue, then pulls me into another heated kiss. On some level, it should register that this is wrong and slightly unsettling, but as intense desire spreads through me all I can think about is giving Elias what he needs.

Me.

Elias.

Absolutely wild.

“Let me see now,” Elias whispers, slowly breaking the kiss. I stick out my tongue again and he clicks his teeth. “Still weeping.” He catches the blood on his index finger before sucking it into his mouth. “I could heal your injury, but gods, I don’t want to.”

“You can…” I pause, blowing out a shaky breath. “You can feed normally.”

Elias’s eyelids flutter. “Ah. That’s what you really want, isn’t it? My cock inside you while I sink my fangs into your pretty neck?”

I whimper, nodding. “Please.”

He sets me down on the chaise longue, holding his finger up to gesture for me to wait a minute. I watch as he steps to the edge of the space we’re in, lifting his hand and moving his lips, though I hear no spoken words.

Two people, a man and a woman, appear. The three of them converse for a moment, then the woman says something in a foreign language I don’t recognize, and when she finishes, the air around me thickens, almost like an invisible fog has rolled in.

Elias twists around to face me, a pleased smile on his lips. “There.”

“What just happened?”

“Forgive me, darling, but I couldn’t bear the thought of someone else seeing your beauty and how I’m about to absolutely wreck you.”

A shiver rolls down my back. “What did you do?”

“A little assistance from a witch friend. She put a veil over the space. We can see out, but if someone were to peek in, it would be blurry. I told you I was greedy.”

I nod, scooting back on the chaise. “That’s cool.”

“Yes.” He shrugs his jacket off, and my stomach flutters in response. “You told me a secret so I’ll tell you one of mine.”

“Okay.”

“I’ve been bored, dear mortal. Very bored.” He elegantly toes off his shoes while also working on unbuttoning his dress shirt. “When you’ve walked the earth as long as I have, you run out of surprises and new experiences.”

“That makes sense.”

“Until you came here.”

“Me?”

“You’re a new experience and a delightful surprise. I thought I’d unwrapped every interesting mortal in existence, but here you are, eager and tasting of cherries and cream.”

“Cherries and cream?”

Elias nods, pulling his shirt from the hem of his pants and revealing a stunningly gorgeous canvas of toned, tanned flesh covered in… tattoos. How on earth…?

Elias chuckles. “You’re curious again. Every time your mind conjures a question, your pulse ticks up and your scent increases.” He tips his head back and inhales. “My, how delicious.”

“Is it annoying always smelling and hearing and seeing so much?”

“You get used to it and learn to drown out most of it.” He stalks toward me. “But I don’t think I could ignore you if I tried.” Gesturing to the button of his slacks, he asks, “Would you like to do the honors?”

“Heck yeah.” I flick the button open and suck in a breath when they slide down his hips enough to reveal the carved dips on either side. Elias looks as if he was sculpted from marble in the sixteenth century. “How did you get the tattoos?”

“Another secret.”

I tug his slacks all the way down and a literal whimper escapes my lips. He’s not wearing anything underneath. His cock isn’t super long, but it’s very thick as it hangs heavily between his legs. He’s uncut and—holy Dracula—he’s pierced.

“I’m so confused.”

Elias drags his hand through my hair. “Your research has told you that vampires cannot have modern body enhancements because we heal too quickly. Am I right?”

“Yeah.”

“But we’re smart and tenacious, you see. We pursue solutions for the things we really want. Magic exists and it can be just as helpful as it can be deadly.”

I reach out to touch his cock but pull my hand back. “But this is real?”

He nods. “Very real. The magic is, shall we say, unpleasant, but it works to slow down the healing process, almost as if we were mortal again, but just long enough to complete the modification. We also have a specially curated group of artists who use magical tools for the process. It took over a hundred years to get it right, but we did. The shops we have across the world are never empty.”

“That’s incredible.”

“Thank you. I take it you like what you see?”

I nod, grazing my teeth over my bottom lip. “I’ve never been with someone pierced before.”

“Hmm, well, you’re in for a treat. Until you’ve had thick, cool metal graze your prostate, you haven’t truly been fucked.”

Another shiver rolls through me as my cock thickens. “Exciting.”

Elias kneels before me and gently removes my shoes and socks, massaging each foot as he does. “Stand up, darling. It’s my turn to see you.”

I manage to pull myself up even though my legs are shaking like trees in a hurricane.

“How’s your tongue?” he asks.

“Healed. You did that.”

He smiles, nodding. “But my gums throb with the need to taste you again.”

“You can.”

“Arms up.”

I raise my arms above my head and almost giggle as Elias pulls my polo shirt over my head. As I lower them, he works on my jeans, tugging them down slowly. When I’m standing in just my underwear, I shift my weight from foot to foot, awkward under his intense gaze.

There’s nothing hard or carved about my body. I’ve never seen the inside of a gym, and the only intentional sweating I do is when I jack off for too long.

Elias slowly removes my black briefs, releasing my cock. “Lovely. Larger than you looked fully clothed.”

“I’m a grower, not a show-er.”

Elias laughs. “I’ve not heard that before.”

I’m aware of the heated flush spreading from my cheeks down my chest. Normally, I try to get to any sex business with the lights out, but something about Elias taking me in feels nice, like the sun on my back.

“You’re very pretty, Geordi.” He brushes his lips over my cock and my breath hitches. “Very pretty indeed. I can just imagine what you’ll look like when I’m done with you, your body stained with your blood and my cum.” He licks his lips. “Do you have any limits I should be aware of?”

“L-l-limits?

“Anything you don’t like?”

I huff a breath. As if I could even think of anything right now. “You can do whatever you want.”

“Delicious.” With a strong hand on my hip, he turns me effortlessly so I’m facing the couch. “Bend over. Let me worship this lovely ass of yours.”

Gripping the back of the chaise, I tilt my ass up, shamelessly on display for him. He dives right in, licking a stripe along my crease that instantly stokes the flame burning inside my belly.

“Here’s another secret, lovely mortal,” Elias says, nibbling my ass cheek. “I have a unique talent, developed over centuries of existence.”

I turn my head over my shoulder. “What is it?”

“I can influence without compulsion. Whatever I want, I can make happen through sheer intention. For example…” He drags his finger along my crease then circles my rim. “So tight, but I want you to thoroughly enjoy what’s about to happen, so I’m going to make sure of it.”

“How?”

Instead of answering me, he licks me again, digging his tongue inside me. The sensation is unique to say the least. His tongue is unusually warm and everywhere he licks me, my skin tingles. I can literally feel my hole relax and the muscles inside become pliant. But then something new happens. Warmth spreads through me outwardly, and my cock actually drips with precum.

“Perfect,” Elias coos. “Such a good boy for me.”

He spreads my cheeks apart, massaging my entrance with his thumbs as he slides his tongue inside me again. My eyelids flutter from the feeling—warm, soft, deliberate.

Elias continues licking and sucking at my hole. I expect him to slide in a finger or two, but he never does, choosing to munch on me instead. I dig my fingers into the wood of the couch frame, slowly rocking my hips back and forth on his tongue until I can’t take it anymore.

“Please, Elias.”

“Please, what?”

“Fuck me already.”

“Mm, apologies. I suppose I did get carried away at the bounty of this ass.”

Shaking my head, I push back his poetic words and release the much dirtier ones. “Put your cock in me.”

Elias chuckles. “As you wish.”

He hooks his arm around my waist, pulling me back until the head of his cock is at my entrance. Warm, slick liquid glides across my skin, and I wonder when he had time to put lube on me. When he pushes in, I brace myself for the stinging pain, but instead I’m drenched in relief. Exhaling slowly, I grip his arm around my waist and lean my head back.

“Oh gods, Elias.”

“I agree. You feel heavenly. Fucking perfect.”

We don’t move for a few seconds, both of us adjusting to the feeling of connection flowing between us. He pushes in a little deeper and then I feel the piercing. Thick metal catches my internal muscles as it passes over them, then pulls back, then catches again as Elias slowly thrusts inside me.

His hand moves to the front of my throat, gripping and tilting my head back so it almost rests on his shoulder.

“Are you ready?” he asks.

I have no idea for what, but I nod anyway. “Yes, Elias.”

Elias pulls out to the tip of his cock then slams into me so hard the couch we’re on moves across the floor. Too many sensations hit me all at once, from his hand around my throat to the piercing pounding my prostate, to his teeth grazing my neck.

I whimper and moan, trying in vain to scream his name, but only garbled words escape. Elias whispers words of affection, desire, and even worship to me.

Beautiful.

Delicious.

Divine.

Addictive.

I’m pretty sure he could ask me to burn down the world right now and I’d agree to it. I’m both completely aware and totally checked out, in some strange mix of compulsion and consent. The burning secret shame I’ve kept to myself since the war is on full display for Elias right now, and I can’t be bothered to care.

“That’s right,” he whispers against my heated skin. “Feel it all. Feel everything. I can handle it.”

A hazy memory about our connection flashes in my mind. He’s tasted my blood. He knows my thoughts. I fight back the one threatening to surface. I can’t let him know that. Not him. Especially not him.

When he wraps his hand around my painfully hard cock, I cry out and fuck into his grip, the friction eased by my own precum. It’s at that moment he decides to bite, sinking his fangs into my vein. It’s all too much as my blood rushes to that spot. Pain radiates from the wound, but only for the briefest of moments as it’s quickly replaced by the warmest, happiest, lustiest feeling ever.

A smile tugs at my lips as my orgasm explodes deep within me, rushing like a broken dam from my cock and spilling into Elias’s hands. Elias moans, gulping down my blood and stroking me through my release. His cock swells, stretching my hole to the limit, and as he holds me impossibly close, he empties inside of me.

I fall slack in his arms, but he continues to pummel my insides and drink from my veins. He could completely drain me right now and I’d be defenseless. He could feed me his blood and I’d drink. He could ask me to turn against everything I love and hold dear, and I’d agree. Vampire dick is that good.

Just as I expect him to soften and fall away, the opposite happens. His cock swells at the base, locking us together.

“Fuck,” he growls, pulling his teeth from my skin.

“What is happening right now?”

Elias gently tucks me into his body, turning around and sitting us down. My back is to his chest but I’m literally impaled on his cock. Every tiny movement has my cock jumping and trickling cum and makes Elias moan and twitch.

“Elias?”

“It’s my knot.”

“Knot? Vampires don’t have knots.”

“I do. Long story.”

“Apparently I have time to hear it.”

He leans back, dragging a hand through his now messy hair. I’m sweaty and sticky and he still looks like a model.

“I was bitten by a wolf during a full moon rut ages ago.”

“Uh-huh. You realize that explains nothing to me, right?”

I feel his smile against my cheek. “Right, apologies. It’s very dangerous to have sex with a were or a wolf shifter during a full moon.”

“A were?”

“Werewolf. Slightly different species from a shifter. A werewolf is affected by the moon cycles and has no control over their shift, whereas a shifter is like a vampire in a lot of ways. In control. For the most part, anyway.”

“So you fucked a…?”

“Wolf shifter. He was desperate and I was reckless back then. I thought I could overpower him if necessary. I was wrong. I unleashed his desire for a mate and he bit me. In response, I bit back, and well, our blood mixed.”

“So you got his knot?”

“And he got my taste for blood. Fortunately, those are the only traits we borrowed from each other.”

“How do you know?”

“It was a huge problem. We went to see a mage to ensure nothing else changed. We underwent a most disagreeable ritual to ensure the wolf could still mate. He could.”

“Wow.”

“I admit though, the knot is infrequent and unpredictable. It’s been decades since it last popped up. Maybe a century.”

“Oh. Does that mean something?”

“Great question. I have no idea.”

Now I have a hundred more questions. “Does it hurt?”

“Oh no. It feels incredible. You are so tight around it, involuntarily clenching and releasing. Does it hurt you?”

“No, I just feel full. Stretched.”

“Mmm.” He nuzzles my neck. “Can you smell us the way I can?”

“Smells like sex.”

“Sweet and floral, like a crisp spring day?”

“No. Just cum.”

Elias chuckles. “You are such a treat. A wondrous surprise for me tonight.” He slides his hands up my torso, cupping my chest before tweaking my nipples. “Could I tempt you to stay? We can go to my room and I can spend days upon days feeding and fucking and knotting you until you can take no more.”

The desire to say yes is so strong I’m tempted to bite my tongue again, but that would just turn him on even more. I need to say no. This can’t be an ongoing thing. Right? But maybe if I stay it still counts as just once, and then I can say I only broke the rules one time. Oh shit. Wait. Enyo is here. He knows. Oh gods, he knows. What if he tells Meredith? What if he thinks I’m wrong? What if?—

“Shh,” Elias whispers. “My gods, your brain is working.”

I blow out a shaky breath. “I want to stay, but I should leave.”

“Ah. I haven’t convinced you of the beauty of breaking rules that don’t matter. Perhaps I’ll try harder next time.”

“There really shouldn’t be a next time.”

“But there will be.” He nibbles my earlobe. “You know it as well as I do. We’ve opened the box, sweet, curious Geordi, and it won’t be easy to put the lid back on. I warned you.”

I pull my head back enough to meet his gaze. He looks so normal right now. The fangs are gone and his eyes aren’t glowing.

“Don’t worry,” he says. “I’m not offended. I know you enjoyed our interlude. You cannot hide your feelings from me, but I’ll be patient and await your return to my embrace.”

I open my mouth to say something, then shut it again. How do I defend against the truth?

His eyelids flutter and his knot noticeably subsides. I scrunch my nose, unhappy with the sudden lack of fullness. I rub on him, trying to get it to do something again.

“It’ll be about an hour before I can perform again. The knot takes it out of me.”

I huff in frustration. That was hands down the best fuck I’ve ever had. Too bad it’s from the worst possible man. Being? Ugh.

“I should see what Enyo’s doing anyway.”

“Lovely idea.”

He pulls out of me and the loss makes me moan. His cum drips from my hole and down my legs. Elias takes his dress shirt and uses it to wipe me clean.

“A souvenir for me,” he says with a smirk.

I shake my head in response. “Maybe you’re the weird one.”

“No doubt. Would you like me to redress you?”

“I got it, Daddy.”

He arches an eyebrow. “Daddy?”

I snort. “You’ve never heard of daddy kink?”

“I’ve heard of nearly everything, yes, but I’ve never been confused with being a Daddy.”

I shrug, grabbing my shirt from the floor. “I dated a guy once that really wanted to be a Daddy. I was into the doting and stuff, but I couldn’t get myself to call him that and still feel turned on.”

Elias has a strange expression on his face that I can’t really read. “Did you love him?”

Scoffing, I shake my head. “Not at all.”

“Has anyone ever broken your heart?”

I nod, biting my lip as I search for my pants. “Once. A long time ago.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why did he break your heart?”

I shrug, focusing on not toppling over while I get my jeans on. “He said there was no spark. He thought I was weird too. Awkward.” I look up to find Elias practically seething. “But he kept me on standby, always coming back after he said he was done and stringing me along. He finally dumped me for good when he met a guy at a video game conference. I gave him three years.”

“What is his name?”

“Why does it matter?”

“Geordi. Tell me his name.”

My chest tingles as his words bounce around my head and force me to speak. “Jeremy.”

“His surname?”

“Reynolds.”

“Anyone else?”

“No. I haven’t really been in a serious relationship since him.”

“Any friends who’ve betrayed you? Has anyone been unkind?”

My eyelids flutter as my thoughts turn hazy, swirling around like a tornado until producing the name of my childhood bully.

“Matt White.”

“What did he do to you?”

“Tormented me in school. Beat me up once. I hated him. He saw me years later at a club I was at for a coworker’s birthday and pretended we were friends. He caught me alone later and actually tried to hook up with me.” I chuckle darkly. “I told him I’d fuck him when hell froze over.”

Elias doesn’t laugh or even smile. Instead his eyes glow with a red ring around them. “I’ll take care of it.”

I blink, snapping out of whatever stupor I was in. “What? No. You can’t take care of anything. It’s ancient history.”

“It still hurts you. I felt it. What would you like? Their blood? Their heads?”

“Gods, no. I don’t need anything.”

“An apology? I could make that happen too.”

I wave my hand to dismiss his offer. “No. I want to move on, and right now, I want to find Enyo.”

“Very well.”

“Promise.”

He blinks slowly a few times. “No.”

I pull my head back. “No? You won’t promise?”

“No. I like you, Geordi, and when I like someone, I protect them.”

“Cool, but I don’t need that. Promise you won’t kill anybody on my behalf.”

He tilts his head. “Promise you’ll return here to visit me.”

“Negotiating, huh?”

He smiles.

“Fine. I promise to return.”

“Very well. I promise not to kill anyone on your behalf.”

“Thank you.”

He gestures toward the main club, and as we walk out, it feels like stepping through thick velvet curtains. Weird.

Elias guides me through the club, following what sounds like classical music. We step through actual curtains to find a stage with four men on it, two of whom are bleeding heavily and being dragged through some kind of waltz by the other two.

“What…?” My eyes catch Enyo watching the scene with his pants down and Jagger between his legs, enthusiastically blowing him. I pull my gaze away. “Oh gods.”

Elias stands behind me, rubbing my shoulders. “Ah. Entertainment.”

“What’s going on?”

“A dance, obviously.”

“Elias, quit being cagey and explain this.”

“It appears we have some guests.”

“Are they dead?”

“No.” He clicks his teeth. “We only indulge in the blood of the living. Dead blood is how you poison a vampire, but you already knew that, didn’t you?”

“Yes. Are they going to be killed?”

“I imagine so, yes.” He bends so that his lips brush against my ear. “But they are criminals. Society will not weep for their loss.”

“How do you know that?”

“You don’t recognize their gang clothes?”

I focus on the men, taking in their clothes. Then I notice the green bandannas in their back pockets.

“Oh. The Irish gang.”

“Correct. They’ve been causing a bit of trouble lately. These two must have caught the attention of my vampire friends and were invited to entertain us.”

One of the vampires dips his victim low before tearing into his throat. I flinch at the graphic violence as a choir of vampires moan in unison. Enyo doesn’t react, watching the scene play out with hooded eyes and his hand tangled in Jagger’s hair as he slowly pumps his hips.

My cock jerks again, and I’m not sure what’s turning me on. Is it watching my friend be pleasured or the bloodbath on stage?

“It’s both,” Elias whispers. “You have a touch of bloodlust too.”

“Stop that.”

He chuckles. “No. I enjoy prodding around your very interesting mind.”

“It’s not nice since I can’t do the same thing to you.”

“You could if you drank from me.”

I spin around and step back so I can see his face without straining. “Nice try. I’ll turn into a vampire if I do that.”

Elias cups my chin. “Un petit gorgée, mon cher.”

“I don’t speak French.”

“What a shame. Your lovely mouth would do honor to my favorite language.”

Exasperated now, I demand, “What did you say?”

“A little sip, darling. Just a taste of vampire blood won’t turn you, but it will affect you.”

A man on the stage screams as the vampire he’s with drags long nails across his now bare chest.

“You would be stronger, more alert.” Elias moves behind me again, forcing me to watch the carnage on stage. “You could peek inside my mind for a bit. If I let you.” He slides his hands down my front, dipping under my shirt and gliding back up to my chest. “Your stamina would increase, as would your desire for me.”

I clear my throat.

“I know you’re curious now,” Elias continues. “You’re desperate to know what it would feel like. I could give that to you. I could give you anything your heart desires, even its secrets. All you have to do is ask me.”

His hands roam down my stomach and land between my legs, where he gently squeezes my half-hard cock.

“Next time I’ll suck your lovely dick into my mouth and keep you there until you beg me to let you come. You’ll look so pretty on my bedding.”

“Elias…”

“Yes, darling?”

“Don’t call me darling.”

“Why? You like it.”

Abruptly, he releases me and stands beside me, staring ahead as one vampire straddles his victim and tears him apart like a wild animal. I can’t look away, and weirdly, I’m not disgusted.

“Do you do that to people?”

“Sometimes. I like it.”

“Why?”

“The world is full of evil and wrong doers. Admittedly, I wasn’t always so concerned with the morality of my victims, but a modern world requires modern solutions. We prey on the criminals and the sludge of society when we desire to hunt.”

“Is hunting different from feeding?”

“You tell me. Are you unharmed?”

“Yes.”

“Exactly. Would you like to know my very favorite form of prey?”

I want to say no, but that’s not happening. “Yes.”

“Priests. Clergy. The religious hypocrites of the world.”

“You… you kill priests?”

“Not all of them, of course. Just the naughty ones. Fortunately, there are many.” He lifts my hand and kisses the back of it. “Can you smell the blood in the air?”

When I look up, his fangs have descended, and call me a freak if you want, but he’s so much hotter like this.

He turns his gaze to me, drawing me in closer. “What is more divine than the predator becoming the prey?”

I swallow hard. “I guess that’s not bad.”

“Thank you for the endorsement.” He chuckles. “Aw, sad. The show is nearly over. I do love a good bit of theater after an indulgent treat. Are you sure I can’t lure you upstairs?”

I clench my fists around the fabric of my jeans to keep from jumping into his arms. “I have work to do.”

“Of course.” He bends down until he’s eye level with me. “There will come a day when I won’t take no so lightly.”

I narrow my eyes. “I thought you preferred consent.”

“Prefer, yes.” He flicks his tongue out and licks my lips. “But I already know what’s in your heart, Geordi. Given time, I have no doubt you’ll offer your consent freely and often.”

“You’re dangerous.”

“And you’re fascinating. What a pair we make.”

I manage to take a slight step back. “I need to find Enyo.”

“He’s right behind you with Jagger between his legs sucking him off to completion. His moans are pretty, but not nearly as stunning as yours.”

“Do you only think about sex?”

“Not at all. I think about blood too. Sometimes money.”

A reluctant smile tugs at my lips. I would have to like the guy.

“Do you know what it is to be a vampire’s consort?”

“Like a lover?”

“No, mon cher. To be a consort is to be a bride. A permanent companion. To share a bed for all of eternity and be ravaged by your vampire’s love.”

“Bride? That’s… for women.”

“Yes, consort is more gender-neutral, isn’t it? Tonight, I want you to dream about me and what it would be like to be mine forever.”

“There’s no reason to do that. Besides, I can’t control my dreams.”

Elias smiles as though he knows something I don’t.

“Is Enyo done with Jagger?”

Elias looks beyond me and nods. “Yes. Somewhat devastated from the experience, but alive and well.”

I turn to see him splayed out in a chair, his dick still out while Jagger holds a bottle of water to his lips. Can relate.

“Um, well, thank you for…” I cringe. For fucking me to the edge of sanity? “For the experiment. It was helpful.”

“I’m at your service, Geordi. Call whenever you wish.”

“Okay.”

I hurry over to Enyo, who seems to be coming back down to earth. Jagger grins at me as he zips up Enyo’s jeans. He kisses Enyo’s cheek and whispers something that makes my friend smile.

“We need to go, En.”

He glances up at me with dazed eyes. “Dude. Vampires are legit.”