“Now I couldn't live without you.”
What sweet words, spoken through gritted teeth. The boy was impatient. He didn’t want to talk. He wanted to be fucked.
Maddox obliged him in one hard thrust, spearing Will to his hot little core, spreading him wide, making him a sheath for his cock. He saw Will’s toes curl, heard the cry of ecstasy and pain, and then he thought no more. He became a plundering, dominating force slamming himself inside Will, not so much a soul as a force of nature, something originating almost before time itself, certainly long before humanity rolled through him and demanded that this human beast sacrifice be thoroughly claimed.
He felt his fangs drop, but he kept himself from William’s blood. In his current mood there was far too much risk that he would give into a feeding frenzy, take out all his need and hunger on the one thing he held most precious in all the world. He would have to be satisfied with feeling his cock impale Will time and time again, a different penetration, one that did not fully sate his hunger, but suffused them both with raw pleasure.
Meanwhile…
“You sure this is what you want?” Henry asked the question with more caution than needed.
Lorien nodded with a calm smile. He could take anything Henry could throw at him, he was certain of that. He was looking forward to showing Henry what he was made of. He was certainly not afraid of the man. Or the beast, for that matter.
Henry shifted into his wolf self, smoothly destroying his clothing without a care in the world. Lorien remained calm as the beast stalked around him with dark intention. Once, twice, thrice around it went and then it was on him in a single bound, pushing him down to the floor on hands and knees and then crushing him even further so his face was pressed against the cold concrete.
Lorien felt the wolf’s jaws on the back of his neck, long canines putting pressure on his skin and vertebrae. His mind flashed to a wound he had received months ago, arguably the wound that had set so many of these events in motion. Without the wound, there was no Chauvelin. There was no Ivan. There was nothing besides Maddox toying with another criminal human. The wound to Lorien’s neck had changed the royal landscape of the city forever.
That night, his throat had been ripped out. He had been frightened and alone and more angry than he’d ever been. Now he found himself once more crouched on the floor, dangerous teeth so close to the same place. He wanted so badly to be brave, but that intense flash of memory was too powerful to allow anything so high functioning as bravery.
He came leaping up with a shout of fright, dashing away from the wolf with vampiric speed, putting a great deal of distance between them before he came to a halt at the foot of the stairs.
There was no longer a wolf. There was only a tattooed naked man standing in the kitchen.
“I told you,” Henry said. “I won’t be good for you, little prince.”
“Don’t call me that,” Lorien snapped. “Don’t…”
He was being suffused with a deep sense of shame that did not allow him to explain himself. Even if he could have, the beast wasn’t interested in explanations. Henry had already decided that he was not worthy without knowing why. He had been judged and found wanting. Typical.
Lorien turned around and went up the stairs as fast as he could, disappearing in a flash to Henry’s still too human gaze.
Chapter Twelve
Will woke up in Maddox’s arms, feeling calmer and happier than he had in a long time. He must have been fucked and cuddled to sleep. He’d certainly been cuddled awake.
“Hey,” he said, his voice slightly groggy with morning slowness. “It feels late.”
“Hello, boy,” Maddox purred. “I thought it best to let you sleep. You seemed to need it.”
“It has been a series of long and exhausting days,” Will agreed. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For letting me sleep.”
Maddox looked down at him with warm dark eyes, his fingers playing with Will’s hair. “I will always do my best to take care of your needs, boy. You are precious to me. Deeply so. More than I can say. Everything I have tried to do has been in the service of…”
Maddox’s words were lost in Will’s kiss.
“I know,” Will said when the kiss was broken after long moments. “I love you too.”
“Good,” Maddox smiled. “I think we might be reaching a calmer point. We have dealt with Ivan, and you seem to be much more settled. I think I will let Henry go after all. It is time we reduced our numbers. Perhaps took some time out from the city.”
“Yes, yes, that sounds amazing,” Will said. “You know I’ve never seen California?”