Page 112 of Caller of Crows
Sven's eyes fell shut, and his muscles strained to hold himself motionless as Altair's fangs teased along his dick. Fuck, that was incredible. So forbidden, so dangerous. It made everything else feel sharper and brighter. The coolness of Altair's breath, the gentle touch of his fingers, the wetness of his tongue. Pleasure built up inside Sven, white-hot and burning through him, threatening to consume him. "Alt, I need to…"
Altair hummed in acknowledgment and finally took Sven as deep as he could, the vibrations of the sound pulsating along his length and bringing him that much closer to the brink.
"God, yes," Sven gasped as Altair's throat constricted around the head of his dick, the feeling overwhelming.
When the vampire sucked him in earnest, his mind went blank, and he gave in to the waves of pleasure assaulting him.
"Come for me, Sven," Altair growled, and Sven cried out, all his control breaking.
His muscles snapped, his back arched, and his cock spasmed in Altair's mouth as his balls tightened. Cum spurted from him in a blinding rush of ecstasy as Sven's world erupted into bliss.
Sweaty and exhausted, he sank back, spent.
Altair crawled up beside him and kissed him, a deep and thorough exploration with tongue and lips that Sven relished until Altair broke their kiss. "You taste delicious," he murmured. "Everywhere."
Sven forced his eyes open and saw Altair smiling at him, a hint of red still glinting in the depths of his irises. For a moment, they simply looked at each other, then Altair rolled them both onto their sides and pulled a blanket over their bodies, careful not to aggravate Sven's broken arm.
Sven settled in Altair's arms, enjoying the way they held him and how perfectly their bodies fit together. He snuggled against his lover's chest, finding the skin there cooler than he was used to because Altair had not drunk from him. "If you turned me," Sven whispered, "wouldn't you miss the taste of my blood?"
"You'd still bleed." Altair tucked a stray lock of hair behind Sven's ear.
"You know what I mean," Sven argued quietly. "It wouldn't be the same."
"Maybe not," Altair allowed. "But you'd still be you, and I'd still enjoy biting you just as much." His lips brushed over Sven's cheek before trailing along his throat, causing a fresh shiver to run down his spine. God, he wanted this, wantedeverythingthis man was offering, no matter how crazy that might be.
Still, he had to confirm what he'd heard earlier. "You called me your mate…"
Altair paused his lazy exploration of Sven's neck for a second before nodding. "I did."
"Are you sure about that?"
Altair withdrew just a few inches to study him quietly. "There's something I've been keeping from you," he admitted.
Sven stared up at him. "What?"
"That night in the park wasn't the first time we met."
Sven blinked, his brain refusing to process the statement correctly. "Wait, what? But…"
"A vampire attacked you in the woods a few years ago."
"That wasn't you," Sven protested. "I know that wasn't you." Being bitten bythatvampire had been horrible. Terrifying beyond compare. Nothing like the times Altair had sunk his teeth into Sven's flesh. Nothing even close to it.
"No," Altair agreed. "It wasn't." His voice grew soft, as if he was recalling a painful memory. "It was my sire."
Sven sucked in a breath. "What?" he asked, unable to comprehend what Altair was telling him.
Altair caressed his face with gentle fingers as he explained. "My sire was a vampire who enjoyed hunting a little too much. Usually, he'd find animals in the woods, but that night…" Altair's lips thinned. "We caught your scent on the wind, and my sire decided that he needed to have you. He was going to enslave you." He swallowed. "I couldn't allow that, so when he attacked you, I struck him down while he was distracted."
Sven looked at Altair in disbelief. "But why would you do that? You didn't even know me!"
Altair's hand stilled on his cheek. "It puzzled me too, back then. I didn't know you, but I couldn't let another vampire have you. Not even my sire." His gaze locked with Sven's. "Something about you spoke to me on a primal level I didn't understand but I couldn't ignore."
"And then you just left me there?" Sven asked, struggling to fit the pieces of the puzzle together in his head. At least the feathers in his dreams were finally starting to make sense. If Altair had been there that night…
"I wasn't fit to take another mate," Altair said softly. "Not after…" His voice trailed off, but Sven could hear the pain underlying it and didn't press the matter. "I figured your life would be better without me."
Sven swallowed, wanting to tell Altair otherwise, but knowing full well that he would not have been receptive to the idea of dating a vampire at that point in his life. It hadn't been the right time for either of them. "Why did you never tell me?"
