Page 52 of Dearest Alpha Brothers 1: Vampire Prince

The wood creaked ominously. Luca’s small “eep!” of surprise had Zane moving before thought, crossing the library in a blur. The alpha caught Luca against his chest just as the ladder swayed, one arm under the boy’s bare legs, the other around his back where silk had ridden up to expose warm skin.

The contact made Zane hiss through clenched teeth. Luca was living temptation in his arms, all silk-covered lines and exposed skin that his wolf yearned to mark. The boy’s pulse fluttered visibly at his throat, drawing their collective gaze like a beacon.

“The book,” Luca mumbled, his face pressed against Zane’s neck. The boy’s breath against Zane’s skin had the alpha’s eyes bleeding gold. “I still need… I have to understand why I keep wanting to…” Luca caught himself, a blush spreading down hisneck and disappearing beneath silk in a way that had all three brothers tracking its progress.

Ryker reached up to grab the volume with movements so controlled they looked painful. When Luca beamed at him in thanks, his fangs peeking out adorably, Ryker had to look away before his wolf completely took over.

“I’ve got you,” Zane managed, though his voice was pure alpha dominance. “Just… don’t move.”

Luca nodded, apparently oblivious to how every slight movement pressed him more firmly against Zane, or how his bare legs draped over the alpha’s arm were slowly destroying Zane’s sanity. Luca’s scent grew stronger, sweeter, with an undertone that had their wolves howling in recognition.

When Zane finally set Luca on his feet in the library, the motion caused both straps of the tank to slip down the boy’s shoulders. The silk now clung to Luca’s slender form by what seemed like sheer willpower alone. The boy’s quick intake of breath had all three brothers fighting their wolves’ urgent demand to claim.

Ryker stepped forward with the book and as Luca reached for it, the prince’s fingers brushed Ryker’s, and the contact had both of them freezing. Luca’s pupils dilated, darker lavender bleeding into his irises as his fangs extended unconsciously.

“Thank you,” Luca whispered, swaying slightly toward them. His gaze fixed on Ryker’s throat, then darted to Zane’s, before finally landing on Archer’s. The hunger in the boy’s eyes had nothing to do with blood-fusion drinks. “I just… I need to understand why I keep wanting to…”

Luca caught himself, clutching the book to his chest like a shield. The movement only served to emphasize exactly how little that silk outfit covered, the moonlight turning his skin to pearl and temptation.

“Good night!” Luca practically squeaked, backing away from them. “I’m sorry about… everything. The ladder. The… biting thoughts. I mean! Not biting thoughts. Just… good night!”

The prince fled, leaving behind only the phantom sensation of silk against skin and a scent that had their wolves howling in frustrated need.

“Still think we can maintain appropriate boundaries?” Archer asked quietly, noting how Zane’s eyes still blazed gold, how Ryker’s hands had shifted to claws.

The only answer was the sound of Zane’s fist meeting the nearest wall, leaving cracks in the plaster that matched the ones in their resolve.

Zane stalked into his private wing of the penthouse, every muscle coiled with barely contained violence. His wolf clawed beneath his skin, demanding release, demanding he turn around and go back to where Luca stood in that scrap of silk, looking at them with lavender-tinged eyes and parted lips.

The doors to his suite splintered under his grip. Even here, in his sanctuary, Luca’s scent lingered—vanilla and cherry blossoms now laced with something darker, headier. The sweet musk of arousal that had spiked when Zane held him against his chest, when the boy’s bare legs draped over his arm, when those damnable straps slipped down Luca’s shoulders…

“Control,” Zane snarled, pacing the length of his bedroom. The word was meaningless. How could he maintain control when Luca’s scent filled his lungs with every breath? When his hands still burned from touching the boy’s silk-covered skin? When his wolf howled to claim what it increasingly saw as theirs?

The massive windows overlooking New Vale’s skyline reflected his eyes bleeding to molten gold, his features sharpening as his wolf pushed closer to the surface. In the glass, Zane watched his canines lengthen, his muscles ripple with partial shifts he couldn’t control.

Luca’s small gasp when he’d caught him echoed in his mind. The way the boy had unconsciously pressed closer, his pulse fluttering visibly at his throat. How Luca had swayed toward them at the end, hunger darkening his eyes as he stared at their throats.

Zane’s claws shredded the leather armchair he’d gripped for support.

This was madness. Luca was their brother. Their responsibility. Their…

Mate, his wolf snarled.Ours.

“No!” The word came out more growl than speech. He couldn’t think like that. Couldn’t let himself remember how perfect Luca had felt in his arms, how sweet the boy had smelled, how those fangs had grazed his throat…

The bathroom door nearly came off its hinges as Zane burst through it. Maybe cold water would help. Maybe if he could just wash Luca’s scent off his skin, he could think clearly again.

Steam filled the bathroom as Zane cranked the shower to its highest setting. His clothes lay in shreds on the marble floor, victims of claws he couldn’t fully retract. Even here, with hot water pounding against his skin, Luca’s scent clung to him like a second skin.

The memory of Luca stretched up on that ladder assaulted him—miles of bare legs leading up to where those silk shorts barely covered the boy’s thighs. The way the moonlight had painted his skin pearl-white and luminous. How that tank top had molded to Luca’s slender chest, the material so thin Zane could see every shiver…

Zane’s cock hardened painfully as the images flooded his mind. The alpha in him growled in approval even as shame twisted in his gut. He shouldn’t be thinking about Luca like this. Shouldn’t imagine how those little shorts would feel sliding down his thighs. How his skin would taste under his tongue. How the boy would sound crying out his name as he…

“Fuck!” Zane’s fist slammed into the shower wall, cracking imported tile. The pain didn’t help. Nothing helped. Not when he could still feel Luca pressed against him, still smell the boy’s arousal, still see how Luca had looked at him with vampire-lavender eyes full of hunger.

Zane’s hand wrapped around his aching length, already slick with more than shower water. The first stroke had him growling Luca’s name, all pretense of resistance crumbling. In his mind, Luca wasn’t running away. He was here, pressing that silk-covered form against Zane’s chest, tilting that delicate throat in submission.

“Mine,” Zane snarled, his strokes growing harder, faster. His wolf howled in agreement as he imagined lifting Luca against the wall, those long legs wrapping around his waist. In his fantasy, the silk tank tore easily under his claws, baring the boy’s slender chest to his mouth. Luca would moan his name, arch into his touch, beg him to…

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