Page 23 of His Mate By Vengeance

“Why can’t you just stop?” Angelo said, even though he knew he shouldn’t. Even though he didn’t want to. He could only hope the frustration and confusion swirling in his chest weren’t audible in his words.

“Because I want you to need me like you need your next breath. I want you to look at me the way you looked out at the forest by the cabin, longing to lose yourself in its depths. I want you to take me into your soul until your heart sings because I’m nestled in close to that beautiful wolf lurking just beneath your skin, and then I want you to rail me like you’ll die if you have to stop slamming that monster cock of yours into my body before your cum is dripping down my legs and I’m screaming your name loud enough for the entire city to hear.”

Angelo squeezed his eyes shut tight and fought for control as Vin’s words settled somewhere deep and broken inside him where he’d been alone for too long. His wolf was fighting to come to the surface, desperate to accept all Vin was offering. He pushed it back.

“You’ll get over it,” he growled, resisting the urge to rub at the sharp ache forming in his chest.

“I have lived for centuries. I have used and been used. Had countless lovers. I haveneverwanted more. Not once. Not until today. Not until you,” Vin said.

Angelo growled again at the thought of Vin fucking anyone but him and then mentally kicked himself for it. He wouldn’t put his pack at risk. Wouldn’t puthimselfat risk. Vin was a killer, just like the one who’d taken his family. And he was a vampire. Vampires and shifters did not start relationships. They’d be cast out by both their peoples.

His wolf growled at him in frustration, and he had the distinct sense it thought he was an idiot. An image forming in his mind of his Alpha fucking Vin had him seething with jealous rage. Okay, sure, maybe his Alpha didn’t suffer from the same prejudices as their forebears. It didn’t mean he’d put up with a leech in their midst. Especially one that would bring Kyan’s vengeance down on them. And Vin was a player, a manipulator. He didn’t want Angelo. This must be a trick of some kind. Or he just wanted a safe place to crash.

His wolf snarled at him in frustration again and then went weirdly silent, as if he was punishing him for being unutterably stupid. Angelo ignored him right back. It didn’t matter how good Vin felt in his arms. This. Was. Not. Happening.

“I don’t want you. I expect you to be gone in the next half hour,” Angelo said.

Vin laughed. The fucker actually laughed. “You’re a terrible liar, my Angel. Don’t claim you don’t want someone while you’re sitting in front of them naked with a hard-on.”

“Twenty-nine minutes,” Angelo said, not deigning to respond to Vin’s too-accurate assessment. His body had been raring to go again as soon as they finished.

Vin’s eyes narrowed at him and then he stood and swept toward the ensuite bathroom, head held high and his lithe muscles far too alluring as Angelo tried, and failed, not to drink in his naked body with his eyes while he still could.

Not trusting himself not to follow the vampire, he pulled on a pair of sweats and stalked out into his living area. A pile of clothes was sitting on the arm of his couch with a note on top. How had he not noticed someone entering his apartment? He knew the answer. It was another reason he couldn’t risk doing anything more with Vin. He hadn’t noticed them because he hadn’t been capable of noticing anything but the wet heat around his cock, the high of Vin’s venom running through his veins, and the intense pleasure of fangs scraping against—ugh. He needed to stop thinking about that. Right now.

The clothes were in Vin’s size, and the note was from his Alpha. It read:Come find me when you’re ready. We need to talk.—M

He could feel the warning in the words. He’d make sure Vin was well clear before that conversation happened and then there’d be nothing for his Alpha to get angry about. Marco needed to be reassured Angelo could be trusted after all the times he’d fucked up these last few days. He’d always been the calm, predictable one in the pack, providing much-needed balance to the emotions that so often ran high. He needed to find that place in himself again.

The sound of the shower was a temptation he didn’t need, so he busied himself with the espresso machine in the kitchen to get his mind off the thought of Vin naked and wet in the next room over. The urge to just knock a hole through the drywall so he didn’t have to bother with inconveniences like doors to reach the vampire was fucking ridiculous. He put it down to the venom still wreaking havoc on his system and the fact Vin’s scent was still all over him, a constant sensual reminder of what had just been, what could still be. He needed a shower. And he needed the vampire to get out of his space.

Soft footsteps pausing near his table and a waft of freshmint interrupted his thoughts. How long had he been standing staring at his steaming cup of coffee? At least Vin knew enough not to sneak up on him. He had to swallow back a moan as he turned and took in the image Vin made—hair still slick and wet, tight black jeans that left nothing to the imagination, an even tighter collared shirt that brought out the silver in his eyes. It was more Marco’s style than Vin’s, but his Alpha had impeccable taste. He kind of hated that Marco could match a shirt to Vin’s eyes without checking.

Vin smirked as if he could read his thoughts. Wait. Could he read his thoughts?

“No. I’m not a mind-reader. You’re just really shit at hiding what you’re thinking,” Vin said. “Jealousy looks good on you.”

“Not true. I waste my pack at poker because they can’t get a read on me.”

Vin shrugged. “Maybe I’m just special then.”

“You’re nothing to me.”

Vin stepped closer and Angelo barely breathed as the vampire reached out and stroked a finger along his collarbone, petting him. “Don’t worry, puppy. He’ll come round.”

Was he seriously talking to his wolf right now as if they weren’t the same person? He could feel his eyes flash as his animal came to the surface, desperate to lean into the vampire’s touch.

“I’m not a fucking puppy,” he snarled.

“Then stop acting like one,” Vin said, before turning on the heel of his combat boots and walking out the door.

It took everything Angel had not to call him back.

An hour later, Angelo knocked on the door of the study in Marco’s mansion and waited for permission to enter. When his Alpha called, he walked in to find his closest family gathered. Something must be going down. Luca, their resident hacker, was once again nestled into a couch. His sister Aria was sitting close enough to crowd him into the corner, which was weird as fuck. Aria was a ruthless bitch at the best of times. She was clearly worried about him. Marco’s brother Silas was flanking him, leaning on the wall behind him. Bella, the most intimidating supernatural he’d met bar none, was sitting cross-legged on the floor to his left, smiling to herself. She wasn’t a wolf, but he had no idea what she was beyond the fact she was Marco’s best friend and fixer. The white flash of her teeth was in sharp contrast to the stunning ebony of her skin. He would’ve thought her intimidatingly untouchable if he hadn’t seen her dancing with her ray of sunshine wife at every pack celebration for the last three decades. The enforcers who would usually be present were noticeable by their absence.

“Alpha,” Angelo said, inclining his head as he tried to guess what had everyone on high alert.

He’d been too focussed on Vin. As the head of their security, he should’ve been all over whatever this threat was. The fact he didn’t have any idea was killing him. How had he let himself be so distracted?

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