Necessary Passion [Alchemy Mates 3] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) (13 page)

“We’re getting a private room when we get to the inn,” Aidan said in a low voice, peeking out from under his lashes in a coy look that could only mean one thing. “I’ll rub out your soreness and give you something else to think about.”

That sounded perfect to Sky.

As promised, they pulled in front of the inn at dusk. The little town they’d ridden through to get there was only one long strip of shops, most of them already closed for the evening. It was the type of community that was common in the more remote areas of Prussia. They were still a day away from their destination, but the proverbial end was in sight.

A thrill shot through him as he pulled back on the reins, and the horses came to a stop. His gaze cut over to Aidan, who dismounted in one fluid motion. “I’ll get the rooms,” Aidan rumbled, shooting Sky a grin of pure mischief.

Lucian chuckled and dismounted beside him. His boots crunched in the snow as he walked the few feet toward Sky before patting him on the knee. “Someone has been promised nirvana, or else you would be as miserable as I am.”

“I have been promised a warm meal and a warmer companion. What more could a man need?” Sky asked, his eyes riveted on the door. Aidan would hurry because the hunter was in as big of a rush for their final night of solitary bliss before the competition as Sky was.

“Um, dry boots and a warm fire wouldn’t be amiss,” Lucian said, a grin in his voice.

Sky looked down. “Right. Those things are important as well.”

“Ah, the honeymoon period,” Andren cut in, obviously enjoying teasing the ancient as much as his brother did. “Such a sweet, innocent time. Enjoy it, Sky. My brother is even more stubborn than I am. He’ll fight you every step of the way. So while he’s complacent, enjoy it.”

“You two are a pair of matchmakers,” Sky said. He felt the uncomfortable heat that signaled blushing overtake his cheeks. He hoped that the cold was an adequate excuse for an ancient’s cheeks being the same shade of red as a hot fire poker.

“My brother deserves a bit of happiness. The way my father treated him for living by your help was deplorable. He suffered in silence for years without one of us knowing. He deserves love and happiness above all other things,” Andren rumbled, dismounting. “Here he comes with some boys. They’ll probably take our horses to the stables. Take care of him, Sky.”

He almost said, “With pleasure,” but imagined that the additional meaning to the words would induce another round of jest that he just wasn’t in the mood for. One of the helpers took his reins and helped him dismount. He winced as he straightened and let out a string of German curses.

Aidan was almost immediately at his side. “I have lectured you about the flexibility in your hips, vampire. I can conclude my point is proven by your cursing.”

“I’m going to murder you,” Sky promised, resisting the urge to kiss the boy. Here was not an appropriate place to maul one’s male lover in the street.

“I imagine that your challenger will attempt that in the next few days, love. No need to try to do the job yourself,” Aidan teased. He really was going to throttle the hunter. “You should praise me. I didn’t botch my German too badly. It only took me two tries to convey my need for three rooms. You speak a dreadful language, Sky.”

“English is no better to learn, I assure you,” Sky grumbled, walking stiffly up to the front door. “Will there be food for you?”

Aidan nodded. “I’ll come downstairs when I’m hungry. For now I’d greatly like to get out of our wet clothes.” He looked over his shoulder as Lucian and Andren followed at a slower pace. “Your room is next door to ours. I will hear nothing and neither will you. All right?”

Andren grinned. “Absolutely, brother.”

“Who is the third room for?” Sky asked.

“The servants. I figured the two of them could bed down together as well. They deserve a room to themselves after riding all this way with us.” Aidan’s thoughtfulness once again surprised Sky. He wouldn’t have thought to make such arrangements for those men in his employ. Perhaps he’d learn a thing or two about kindness from his hunter.

They were greeted by a big, barrel-chested fellow who introduced himself as Alwin, who showed them to their rooms. The tiny rooms they were led to were much better than Sky had expected. They weren’t large, but they were tidy and had the small fireplaces blazing despite the fact that they couldn’t have been privy to the knowledge of their arrival. Alwin must’ve been an intelligent man who recognized utter exhaustion when he saw it, because he left them alone soon after showing them the tiny string that was attached to the servants’ quarters to ring for service. They only had two servants who assisted Alwin and his wife, Josephine, but the caretaker promised both were superb at their jobs.

Sky pulled off his boots and put them and his stockings by the fire to dry out for morning. Aidan went over to the door and slid the bolt shut. As enticing as his lovely hunter was, Sky was disappointed at his apparent lack of interest.

“I don’t know if I can manage more than a good snog, jäger,” Sky warned as Aidan stripped off his coat and shirt and laid them down on the small table nearest the fire. Sky was perched on the edge of the bed, struggling to get off his own clothing. Vampire he may have been, but a body not used to traveling could wear down quickly. He might’ve recovered just as quickly, but that wasn’t the point. At this exact moment, he felt exhausted.

“You just need a good feed, love,” Aidan reassured, stripping his pants and underclothes off until he was gloriously naked and illuminated in naught but firelight. The golden light reflected off his pale skin, and Sky felt the first stirrings of real hunger at the sight. “Let me help you strip down, and I’ll rub you down before you get your supper.”

It really wasn’t necessary he feed every day, but when Aidan offered himself up so readily, how could Sky resist? He nodded. Aidan didn’t need to be told twice. He was across the room in an instant. There was something incredibly intimate about being stripped by one’s lover, and Aidan managed to do it quickly without losing even an ounce of intimacy. Sky shivered as his bare skin was exposed to the chilly air. With a thought he raised his temperature to something more comfortable, but the feeling of Aidan’s hands on his skin still made him burn.

“I’ve wanted you all day,” Aidan murmured. “This is our last day.” They’d be sharing a tent when they got to the challenging grounds, so this really was their last night alone.

“I choose not to think of it that way. It is our last day for a little while.” He couldn’t bear to even contemplate what the end of the challenge would mean.
Stubborn jäger
.

Aidan didn’t protest. Instead, he gripped the back of Sky’s neck and pulled him forward into a kiss. His tongue pushed into the vampire’s mouth, caressing the fangs that had exploded into existence the instant their lips had met. The hard caress against the sensitive tips made Sky groan into the wet recesses of Aidan’s mouth.

“Did you bring something slick?” Sky asked. He needed to be buried inside his lover like he needed air in his lungs.

“Yeah,” Aidan panted. “In my bag.”

“Good,” Sky rumbled. “I need you.”

Aidan broke the kiss and pulled back. “Not yet. I’ve got to give you that rubdown.” He pushed the vampire to his stomach on the bed and ran his hand down his naked back. “I want you to feel nothing but good things when I’m riding you.” Sky’s cock jerked at the words. He enjoyed watching Aidan as he rode his dick to find his pleasure. It was like watching art being formed.

He groaned for an entirely nonsexual reason as his hunter’s hands came back down to rub out the series of knots that had formed in his back and shoulders during their two-day trek here. Aidan worked his way from the tops of his shoulder, down his back, his arse, and finally his hips and thighs. By the time he got midway down Sky’s spine, the vampire was a veritable puddle of relaxation.

“Feel good?” Aidan asked, his voice thick with lust. He’d just finished Sky’s legs.

“Heaven,” Sky said, unable to even lift his head. He felt like he was in that weird position between awake and asleep. Total peace was the only way he could describe it
. Please, let morning never come. I want to stay with him like this forever
.

“Hmmm, but I want my monster, Sky,” Aidan said, pinching Sky’s unguarded ass.

The touch was enough of a jolt that Sky pinned him with a glare over his shoulder. “You think being a brat will summon him?”

Aidan smiled mischievously. “I think I know how to entice him in other ways.” He slid off the bed and went over to the saddlebag he’d been carrying where it sat on the chair by the small wooden table.

Sky pushed himself up on his elbows to watch as Aidan dug out a small jar from the bag and unscrewed the lid. With a triumphant grin, he scooped out some of the jar’s contents and slicked his fingers with it.

“What are you doing, jäger?” the vampire asked as Aidan reached behind himself.

“Preparing the way for my monster. I want his fat cock stretching my ass so bad.” The naughty words made the erection that Sky had lost shortly into the massage come back to throbbing life.

“Show me how badly you want me, jäger,” Sky rumbled. The hunter turned and presented an enticing view of his backside. With one hand he spread his pert ass cheeks and with the other hand he took his slick fingers and circled his tight rosette. Sky’s heart pounded as Aidan dipped one finger inside his beautiful hole. The hunter groaned, and Sky rubbed against the sheets, seeking relief. His hunter was the most gorgeous thing to watch come undone.

Aidan fucked himself with his fingers until he was stretched wide with three of them. By that time, Sky had had enough of the teasing. “You’ve proven your point, jäger. Your monster demands your attention.”

A breathy sigh, almost of surrender, filled the air. “Yes. God, yes.” Aidan straightened and walked back over to the bed. His limbs had developed a fine tremor to them in the minutes that had passed, and Sky rolled to his back so that his magnificent hunter could straddle him.

Without preamble, Aidan swung his leg over Sky’s hips like he was mounting a horse and took Sky’s already pre-cum-slicked dick in hand. The vampire hissed and bucked up into the tight circle of his jäger’s fist. Nothing felt like his Aidan. He sucked in a breath as the hunter steadied him and slowly sank down on his rod. Tight heat fit him like a glove as Aidan fully seated himself. The hunter was panting for breath, and the expression on his face was one of utter contentment as he sat back fully to take Sky deeper.

“You feel so good, my jäger,” Sky complimented, his fingers digging into Aidan’s hips. He wanted him to move, to ride, to be his and wild for their last night together. Aidan must’ve caught the echo of his desire because he started to move. Up and down he rode, racing toward the pinnacle Sky knew they would cross together as their minds merged and their alchemy bond flared to life.

“Sky, love. Christ. Love you!” Aidan cried out as the sticky, hot proof of his pleasure erupted from his hard cock onto the planes of Sky’s abdomen and chest. Sky was overwhelmed by the emotion in those staccato words and followed him over the edge, all but screaming his release as he marked his hunter’s insides with his spunk.

Sky descended back to Earth slowly, the world spinning as he did so. Aidan looked about ready to fall over himself. The vampire reached up and cupped the hunter’s cheek. “Thank you.” It was the perfect memory to carry him through the next few days. Even if the “I love you” had been screamed in a moment of passion, Sky would treasure the words always.

Aidan managed a wink. “You still have to feed, Sky.” He tilted his head to the side, and another shiver ran up and down his body. “Take me to heaven again, my monster.”

The large clearing was bracketed on either side by a forest, making it almost impenetrable to prying eyes. However, it also was exposed to all those acres of coverage. Aidan was just paranoid enough to contemplate all the ways someone could sneak up on them under the cover of thick pine trees. It was isolated enough to not draw attention to the activities going on in said clearing, but still, it made Aidan nervous to know that the place was already filled with vampires.

“You never lose the edge,” Andren rumbled, his eyes scanning the horizon for signs of movement. His little brother still did what every good hunter would do in the face of so much potential hostility. “The more senses you have, the more you seem to apply them to tactical drills that Papa pounded into your head.”

“That’s good to know,” Aidan muttered. He wasn’t used to riding into a conflict. He trusted his feet more than he trusted the horse’s lack of fear.

“Quiet,” Sky commanded, his voice hard. The tone speared Aidan in the chest. He wanted to hear that again in an entirely different scenario. It was almost the same one he used when they were in bed together the previous night. “We only have a limited time to set up the tents, or else we’ll be doing so in the dark. I suggest finding our designated area and setting up.” Aidan did not relish the idea of sleeping on the freezing-cold ground, no matter the number of blankets.

A flicker of movement from their right had Aidan tensing a second before two well-dressed men came out from the woods. They noticed them about the same time the rest of their party noticed the newcomers. Andren took a strategic position, and Aidan took the other. If they meant to cause trouble, they were in for a difficult time.