Whispers in Silence: Part 10

Hey!

Thanks for stopping by.  I’m going to keep this short and sweet tonight because I’m sure you’re anxious to get reading, and because I’m in the middle of doing taxes.  Yay!  Not. ;)

Without further ado, I give you vampire sexy time.  (Forgive me.  I’m kind of cracked out on coffee right now.  True story.)

Hugs,

Night

Part 10 Playlist

Bloodstream – Stateless

Skin – Rihanna

Wonderwall – Oasis (Because Wes is his wonderwall dammit.  *feels* lol)

Artificial Nocturne - Metric

 

Whispers in Silence: Part 10

 

Chapter 25

Beyond tired, Wes trudged up the stairs of Elle Franco’s now quiet townhouse.  After Nina had left, taking Sutton with her to the Manhattan office to have a chat with Camille Sinclair, Wes ordered every Guard outside to watch the entrances.  Fuck, there was even a team on the roof to head off anyone trying to get in that way.  For all the people they had outside, no one was allowed in the house.  Not now.  Not with what was about to happen.

It was almost time.  Wes felt it in his bones.  Felt Adrian in his chest and in his head like a force to be reckoned with.

Wes browsed the mess of weapons in the first floor hall as he ascended the stairs.  They’d all been torn apart for the USB drives that were now in Sutton’s possession.  Having been decrypted by his teammates, the information would be used to interrogate Camille Sinclair, to make her face all the wrongs she’d done and get her to confess if she was smart.

Once they had that notebook in their possession and Camille tied to the house in Surik, and tied to everything on the USBs, Camille could take those smarts and die with them.  Wes would make her screams taste like fire, and when she screamed, he’d pull her fangs out by the root and shove them into her eyes so she’d forever be in the dark.  The place she’d thrown all of her victims for eternity.

He had to bite back his snarl.  Wes needed to be calm when he went to Adrian.  In time, he’d deal with Camille.  Right now, every second of his attention was to be devoted to his mate.  God, he couldn’t say or think that one word enough: mate.

Wes’s body quivered in anticipation, to slide his naked skin against his mate’s.  To enfold Adrian in his arms, cover him with his body and make Adrian feel every bit of him from the inside.  To show him care; to cut through Adrian’s beast and find the man he loved beneath his newfound strength and aggressive needs.

Wes was well aware he reeked of sex and possession when he arrived at the second story landing.  He knew he was sporting one hell of an erection when he stopped in front of the last remaining Guard in the joint. And you know what?  Wes didn’t give a rat’s ass what the guy thought of it.  What’s more, the rookie didn’t even seem to notice.

The Guard at the bedroom door pounded his fist over his chest and stared over Wes’s shoulder.  A good, clean cut boy who Wes could’ve eaten for breakfast had been assigned to watch over Adrian.  This had to be some joke.  Wes had stepped away for all of five minutes to wash his face and take a piss, only to come back to this?  “Detective Durren,” the Guard nearly shouted.  “All is secure on the second floor.”

Wes patted the Guard’s shoulder to put the brownnosing rookie at ease; it wasn’t his fault he’d been made to stand here. Fuck whoever had thought this was funny; probably a parting gift from Feist before he left for Manhattan. “Thanks, newb.  You can go downstairs now.  I’ve got this from here.”

“But I was told to—”

“And I’m telling you that when my mate wakes up soon you’re not gonna wanna be around to hear what I do to him.  If I find you still here when he does wake up, I’m not gonna be happy.  Neither will the newly turned vampire on the other side of that door.  So why don’t you go outside and get yourself a cup of coffee, and some earplugs, sport.  It’s gonna be a long day.”

“Um… Yes, sir,” The Guard said in an uncertain tone.  His mouth opened as if he were ready to say something, he thought better of it, and his lips pressed together.  Then he got with the program and smartly went downstairs to join the others outside.  When the poor rookie got to the bottom step, he halted and turned his face up to Wes.  “What do you mean, you’ll do to him?”

Really?  We’re going there right now?  I don’t think so, kid.

“Apparently your mama didn’t you give a much needed talkin’ to.  Fuck.  Me.”  Wes rolled his eyes and went to Adrian’s door.  A red gift bag hung on the handle with Wes’s last name marked in capital letters.  He snatched it up, opened the door and poked his head back into the hallway. 

“Go away,” Wes boomed and closed the door.  “What did he want?—me to tell him where to put his dick when the time comes?  Shit.  This is where babies come from, or if you like dudes, hopefully they never come from,” Wes mocked to the otherwise quiet room.

In his frustration he practically ripped the bag open to see what was inside.  A drugstore receipt between his fingers, Wes pulled it out and read Feist’s chicken scratch scrawled across the flimsy paper. 

To tame the beast inside. 

Happy Mating, motherfucker.

~Feist

Wes couldn’t help the smile that tugged at his lips when he pulled out a big bottle of lube.  Feist was such a shit, but at the same time, the team wouldn’t be the same without him.  And, okay, maybe the lube wasn’t such a bad idea—even if it was from Feist.

It was awkward enough everyone outside knew what was about to go down, because when Adrian woke up to his mate right beside him, no one was going to be able to stop Wes’s mate from getting some.  It was long overdue.  Adrian would be hopped up on raging vampire hormones, and Wes was going to be right there with his mate when he caught a whiff of Adrian’s pheromones.  Wes was already hard as a rock and every second without Adrian’s touch was driving him mad.

A little lube would go a long way for a long day, because he had every intention of nesting in this room until both he and Adrian were boneless.

Wes dumped the lube on the nightstand and slumped into the chair he’d moved next to Adrian earlier.  He raked his fingers through his short hair.  The wait was making him crazy.  He’d started to talk to himself once everyone he cared to talk to was gone.  Now left to stare at his mate, Wes was about out of his mind. 

Touching Adrian only made things worse.  Wes would get a little weepy, a little hornier.  He’d have to reel himself back in from losing it.

Fact: Adrian was going to wake up.  Still, Wes’s patience was running out.  He craved to see those blue eyes.  Wes yearned to kiss his mate properly, let Adrian know the bathroom incident wasn’t a one-time thing and that he’d never be alone again.  Wes wanted to tell his crazy ass mate all sorts of things he’d never told anyone, like he … like he loved him.

Wes was slowly seeping into madness just looking at Adrian’s chest rise and fall.  He pushed the covers back.  His fingertips brushed over Adrian’s hot skin.  Wes leaned back and ached to run his hands, palms flat over Adrian’s toned chest, over his neck, run his thumb over Adrian’s barely parted lips.  Circle his tongue over Adrian’s nipples and…

“Dammit,” Wes swore under his breath and pinned his hands under his arms so he wouldn’t violate his sleeping mate.  Somehow, although Adrian wouldn’t object had he been conscious, getting all up in his mate’s business when he was passed out felt dirty.  Not the good kind of dirty, either. It was like those bad pornos where some creep was trying to stick it to a sleeping victim who pretended to be passed out.  Wes never got off on that shit.  How the fuck did those actors not make some kind of reaction when a dick was being stuffed in their ass? 

Uh, hello, earth to sleepy twink.  Time to wake up now! Oh my God, what am I doing thinking about terrible porn at a time like this.  Get it together, Durren.

Instead of getting lost in his mind, Wes started to talk to his mate as a distraction.  The words rolled off his tongue without much thought.  There were so many things he couldn’t keep bottled up anymore.

“It’s kind of crazy, huh?  I was okay when you didn’t talk at first.  I loved it, actually.  First partner that hadn’t made me want to punch him for being obnoxious.  Then again, you were annoying in your own way—I like your kind annoying,” he rambled. 

Wes smirked when he caught up with himself, and then he moped when Adrian didn’t stir.  As useless as it was to talk to his mate, Wes didn’t stop.  “I didn’t see it at first, the way you changed around me.  How you started to use your voice because I wanted to hear it.  I noticed how you waited to see what I would do before you made a mistake, how you … how you looked up to me.  Not like those Academy fanboys, either, but like you knew who I really was, that I’m not really an asshole who fights crime with a machete or whatever bullshit they say about me these days.  You saw me for me, and you thought the real me was good enough to imitate.  Don’t you ever tell anyone this, Adrian, but that made me feel… You made me feel special.”

Wes licked his lips and rubbed sleep from his eyes before he started blubbering like a baby.  “I know you had to come here.  I know in your eyes you were forced and you didn’t want to leave your old life behind, but you stayed.  You stayed because … because of me.  That changed me, Adrian.  You don’t deal well with emotional shit?  Well neither do I.  You made me feel, which made me uneasy at first, but it also brought me back to life.  Just like you came back to life.

“You made an impression on me too, Adrian.  I started talking to my team more because you did.  I started to smile more, because you gave me reason to.  And when I dragged you upstairs to my room that night, I felt you everywhere.  I felt how scared you were, yet you were willing to take a chance on me because you trusted me. 

“You trusted me with your life.  You trusted me to not break you.  I’m sorry for not doing right by you and telling you that second how fucking beautiful you are.  I should have turned around.  I should have given you that security, so you knew all along everything was the same for me, that I wanted you back.  How it wasn’t about sex or sleep or more locks on the door; it was about comforting each other, because, Adrian, sometimes assholes like me need to be held too.”

Wes let his breath go in a rush.  He wiped the back of his hand over his eyes.  “Can you just wake up now?  It’s killing me over here. I want to hear your voice, even if you yell at me.  You can even point a gun at my head.  I know you like to do that.”  Wes slid to his knees next to the bed.  He ran his fingers over Adrian’s jaw. 

“Please,” he begged.  “I don’t know what’s happening to us.  I’m seeing shit.  You’re hearing shit.  We’re a fucking mess and I can’t get through it with you unconscious.  Can’t do anything without you now.  Can you hear me, Adrian?  I really need you.”  Wes rested his head next to his mate’s.  “I need you,” he whispered.

Cold air danced over the back of Wes’s neck.  He shivered and whipped his head around to find the source.  The windows were shut tight.  The vent in the ceiling was closed because it’d been hotter than Hades in the room just minutes ago.  Wes held up his hand to the window to search for a crack in the seal.  When that didn’t provide anything, every hair on his body stood on end.  If he couldn’t debunk the strange breeze to some natural cause, then that could only mean one thing.

“Hello?”  Wes asked of the silent room.  “Is someone there? Red, is that you?”

Another gust rushed past Wes.  Adrian’s curls fluttered for a second and then fell back into place.  His eyes moved behind his lids like he was in the middle of a dream. 

“Adrian?”  Wes touched his mate’s shoulder.  “Are you doing this?”

Another breezy warning made Wes sit back on his heels. Definitely not Adrian’s doing. Wes stared at his mate’s face, waiting for something the presence in the room was trying to tell him.  So far nothing the presence had done was all that scary, but the fact of the matter was, a ghost was undeniably trying to focus on Adrian.

A cold spot hunkered down on Wes’s left side like someone had just sat on the floor to watch with him.  This time, Wes was terrified to ask who was there; a part of him confident Red Sinclair wasn’t the invisible intruder.  This spirit felt different, not like Red at all.

Wes kneeled next to Adrian.  He listened to his own heart racing.  A puff of air hit his ear, and Wes nearly jumped out his skin.

“You break my son’s heart and I will haunt you forever.  Not only is that my boy, but we take care of our own.  It is our way,” a man whispered in Wes’s ear.  “Hurt him, and I’ll bring the whole of the afterlife to your doorstep, Detective.”

“Holy shit,” Wes breathed.  He couldn’t move.  He couldn’t think.

An echo of laughter faded away with the cold spot.  Like the room had a spirit vacuum, all of the ghostly energy was gone.

“Your son?”  Wes blurted when it hit him.  “No way...”

Wes looked at Adrian.  Blue eyes with piercing silver swirls narrowed back at him.

***

Adrian surfaced from his comatose state at the sound of Wes’s voice.  Each word tugged him into awareness.  Each low rumble broken up by pained breaths lured Adrian back to his mate.  He had no idea what Wes said, but the words resonated with his body, having more impact than he’d been ready for.

A smell manifested around Adrian, choking him with lust until he had to wake up, had to find out what the fragrance was.  His throat was raw and dry.  His stomach growled.  His mouth stung, pulsed over and over near his gums.  Something sharp was cutting into his bottom lip, producing a sweet, metallic scent that tasted good on his tongue.

Adrian opened his eyes to find the world under his own personal microscope.  Colors pierced his retinas.  Details snapped into focus with every dart of his eyes.  He trembled, fearful and overjoyed in his cocoon of blankets that smelled of … female.  This place reeked of her.

He growled low in his throat, seeking her out only to find the female long gone.  Had she touched what was his?  Had she dirtied his mate?

Rage and jealousy raced to the forefront, making him bunch the covers between his fists.  One look at the man kneeling next to him dulled Adrian’s anger.  Wes with his gray eyes; rings around his pupils the color of a brutal, ocean storm.  Wes, the owner of that smell that engaged Adrian like a person of interest he couldn’t allow to get away.

Wes.  His mate.  Mine.

“Adrian?”

Adrian faltered after he pushed up onto his elbows in one fluid motion, like every muscle in his body was attached by rubber bands.  Although the performance of his newly turned body shocked and amazed him, it was hearing Wes’s voice, his name from Wes’s lips that gave him pause.

One word had never been so important to him. It echoed in his ears, ears that had never heard something so sweet.

Wes reached out to touch Adrian’s face, bringing his wrist too close to ignore. Adrian purred, rubbing his nose against the soft skin of Wes’s wrist.  He nuzzled his cheek in a circle over the beat of Wes’s pulse, warming the scent until it was like a perfume.  Before he knew what he was doing, he attacked, latching both of his hands around Wes’s meaty forearm.  Adrian bit down.

Wes gasped.  He groaned loud enough for Adrian to want to suck the noise right through Wes’s veins and into his mouth.  It took Adrian a second to understand what he was doing, how he now had fangs inside Wes, how his mate’s blood was flowing into his mouth to nourish him.

Blood dribbled down Adrian’s chin as he pulled away.  He licked up what he could, his stomach screaming for more but his shame winning the fight.

“Adrian, come here.”  Wes offered his wrist again.  “It’s okay, baby.  It’s weird at first, I know, but you have to drink.”

“Want it so bad,” Adrian slurred.  “Hurts. Can’t…” 

He covered his mouth and curled into a ball on the bed.  His eyes nearly rolled back into his head when Wes began to take his shirt off.  The scent of his mate exploded onto the scene, no longer a subtle perfume.  Once a silent endeavor to Adrian’s ears, Wes’s garment hit the floor in a louder than possible rustle of fabric.  Adrian’s heart slammed against his ribs.

His nostrils flattened.  He inhaled deeply and arched his back.  The need inside him itched under his skin.  Tortured him.  Burned up his temperature.  His mate was the only cure.

Wes’s belt buckle hit the floor and Adrian stiffened.  “Come here, Adrian.  I want it.  I want you,” Wes growled.

Tears pricked Adrian’s eyes.  That voice.  Not the voice of a spirit, but the sound of his mate talking to him.  It was so beautiful not even Adrian’s beast could deny him this moment.

Wes crawled over the bed in nothing but his underwear; a large, powerful man that prowled over the blankets like an animal.  He pried Adrian’s hands away from his face and Adrian lost all control at the sight of his mate’s body.  Wes looking at him like that, the heat in his eyes and the rumble from his throat that seemed to travel the length of his body—it was all too much.

Adrian bared his aching fangs, flipped Wes onto his back and struck deep into his sweet flesh.  His legs straddling Wes’s hips, Adrian buried his fingers in Wes’s thick, short hair and fed from his mate’s neck.  He moaned.  He swallowed.  Adrian quivered from the flow running down his throat.  He gripped Wes’s head with commanding hands and brought Wes as close as possible to his lips.

Out of his mind with need, Adrian ground against his mate, brushing his erect cock against Wes’s stomach over and over until his dance became rough; more rhythmic; more friction.  The blood should have scared him.  Blood formerly connected to the death he’d dealt to countless unworthy souls in his short lifetime.  Now that he’d tasted Wes’s flavor, blood took on a new meaning for Adrian.

It was everything.  It was delicious in a way that made him want to come with a single drop against his tongue.  More than that, Wes’s blood joined them, bonded them.  It cemented their want for each other beyond some cosmic force.  Bled their souls and twisted them into one.

Wes already fed from Adrian, had seen into his mind, but this time it was Adrian’s turn to bring the bond full circle.  Within Wes’s thoughts, Adrian saw Wes eyeing at him from afar, silently vowing to protect Adrian with everything he was.  He saw Wes scurrying about the kitchen to make sure Adrian had dinner for when he got home.  So he was fed and rested because Wes cared.

He saw Wes brushing curls away from Adrian’s hair in the middle of the night, their one night together, and he placed a tiny kiss on Adrian’s neck before he snuggled closer.  Adrian was consumed by the heat he felt in Wes’s loins every time Adrian was near and the twinkle in his eye when Adrian got frustrated.  The patience he had to control around Adrian, and how worth it Adrian was in the end.

How Wes loved him as a partner and a friend, as more.  How much Wes liked Adrian filling the hole in his life, in his heart, as he became the family Wes craved.  A lonely void he’d never admit to anyone; no one except for Adrian because the wall between them was gone.  Wes showed him all of this because he wanted Adrian to know.  Needed him to feel it.

Adrian growled into Wes’s neck and licked away the blood he’d fetched to the surface.  This man was his.  He intended to drench this bed in their scent and make that fucking female who dared to sully these sheets with her stench sob in jealousy.

“Mine,” Adrian hissed and grabbed Wes’s chin.  His fingertips bit deep.  “You. Are. Mine.”

“That’s what I’m talkin’ about,” Wes husked.  He exposed his fangs on a ragged breath.  “I was startin’ to worry about you.”

Adrian nuzzled Wes’s hand and sucked a finger into his mouth.  His nicked it with his fangs to lap at the blood.  He was gonna fuck Wes stupid.  Yeah, that’s what he wanted.  His beast overtook his body, seeping through his skin until he was sweating profusely and his eyes were burning with power.  The alpha part of him covered Wes with his body, stating his dominance as he locked his knees around Wes’s hips to keep him still.

“Gonna be so much fun,” Wes teased. He played his tongue over a fang. “You have no idea what you’re in for.”

Adrian cocked his head a split second before Wes tossed him onto his stomach and grabbed his hips, pulling back until Adrian’s ass was nestled against Wes’s hard cock.  Adrian snarled.  His beast was not okay with this.  He was supposed to stake his claim, not the other way around.

The moment Wes dug his fingers in, biting into Adrian’s flesh as warning, Adrian found he liked the pain, or rather his beast did.  Still, he refused to submit.  Yet.

He whipped around and smacked his mate in the chest, pushing him off the bed.  Adrian ripped the underwear off his body and roared.  Okay, a bit dramatic because Wes was laughing from the floor, but Adrian wasn’t going down easily.  His beast intended to show his mate who was stronger, that he was the lead in this relationship no matter how much he loved Wes when he wasn’t half crazy with need.  He was burning up.  His straining dick needed a home.  He was going to combust soon.

“You want this?”  Wes pulled his underwear down his legs.  He kicked them off and stroked his thick cock.  He chuckled.  “Come and get it, baby.”

Adrian followed his mate’s hand up and down.  He wet his lips.  “Mine.” He stalked around the bed, aggravated with his Wes’s little game.

Wes had hopped back on the bed.  He sprawled out with his upper body resting against the headboard.  He pumped something in a bottle next to the bed and took a glob of shiny gel in his palm to show Adrian.  “Come play with me.”

Adrian leapt over the footboard and landed in a crouch on the bed.  “Taste.”

“No one’s stopping you.  Taste this right here, baby.”  Wes nodded at his cock and then crooked an available finger at Adrian.

Adrian narrowed his eyes at his mate.  He pursued his target.  Something in the back of his head knew Wes wouldn’t submit to him that easy, so he approached with caution.  Flicking his gaze at Wes, Adrian slowly lowered his head to Wes’s cock.  His tongue darted out, lapping at the head.  Once he was sure the taste was exactly what he’d wanted, Adrian sucked Wes inside his mouth.

His mate groaned.  Wes canted his hips forward to drive deeper into Adrian’s mouth.  Adrian whined when his fangs struck into Wes’s flesh.  Wes slapped Adrian’s shoulder and yelped. “Holy fuck!”

Adrian hummed, retracting his fangs to suck his prize up and down.  Wes tensed as Adrian put a hand to his stomach to push him back.  Then his mate melted into the pillows.  It was only a matter of time before Wes gave in, and Adrian was just waiting for the right moment to gain entry to the warm entrance between Wes’s legs.

His plan of attack was dashed when Wes opened an eye, raised his hand with the lube and smirked at Adrian.  Adrian narrowed his eyes and raised his ass like a challenge.  They were gonna duke this out until one of them came inside the other.  The thrill of the fight was almost as good as the impending sex.

Adrian sucked harder, hollowing his cheeks and taking Wes down to the root.  Wes struggled to keep a straight face.  His eyes widened as did his open mouth.  Adrian would suck until he had Wes right where he wanted him, dumbstruck with pleasure and vulnerable.

Adrian had newly turned strength on his side.  Wes was bigger, and almost as strong.  At this point, they were evenly matched.  Game on.  Adrian smiled wickedly around Wes’s cock.  A scrape of nails on the back of his neck made him lift his head to see his mate.

Wes leaned forward until his lips nearly brushed Adrian’s.  “Loser buys dinner, cause I’m a be fucking starving when I’m through with you.”

“Never through,” Adrian hissed.

Wes nodded.  “Yeah, you’re right, baby.  I’m never gonna be through with you.”

Adrian purred and lifted his head an inch.  Wes twisted and Adrian found himself on his back, staring up at his massive mate.  His breathe caught in his throat.  Wes’s chest filled with air before he yanked Adrian’s legs open and locked his boy’s knees around his thighs.  “Stay.”

Adrian hissed.  “No.”  His eyes widened.  A moan ripped from his lips as cold liquid was spread between his legs, rubbed over his hole and massaged into his balls.  “Evil.”

Wes nudged Adrian’s knees up as he scooted in closer.  Adrian felt how much strength Wes expended just to keep him put.  “Maybe a little,” Wes conceded.  “You want me to stop?”

Adrian thrashed his head.  “Yes.”  No.

“Adrian, I’m talking to you, not to your beast.  You want me to stop?” He demanded by pushing a finger inside Adrian’s ass.

Adrian rolled his body like a wave, ending with his toes curled into the blanket.  “No,” he whimpered.  And he didn’t.  Oh fuck, he really didn’t.

“Then look at me.”

Opening his eyes, Adrian found Wes looking at him differently than before.  His mate’s amusement was gone.  There in the depths of his eyes was passion and love and everything else that should have made Adrian uncomfortable.  Adrian had awoken with a need he didn’t know what to do with.

When he’d been human this kind of interaction had always been about getting off; being the stronger one that controlled the situation.

Always in control.

Playing a part.

Never seeing their face in the dark.

With Wes looming over him, this time was different.  Wes wanted Adrian to be aware of what they were doing.  He wanted him to tell his beast to fuck off and give over a part of himself he’d never shared with anyone.  Wes needed him to experience something he’d never done before because Adrian had never allowed himself to feel it.

This was trust.

This was love.

This was his mate.

Adrian thrust back against Wes’s finger and let his head fall back.  He gave up and gave in.  His otherworldly aggression faded to a manageable throb.  The half of himself he was still discovering trusted the man above him to make it all better.

“That’s it, baby.”  Wes lowered his head and hovered above Adrian’s lips.  “There you are.”

Adrian undulated on Wes’s steadily moving hand.  Slippery and hot, Wes’s finger penetrated him slowly, over and over until Adrian was ready to burst.  He lifted his hands to Wes’s shoulders, making contact with Wes’s bare skin, and stars exploded behind his lids.

Adrian shuddered as he came.  The tingling pressure blindsided him, provoked by a simple touch.  He contracted around Wes’s finger as his cock unloaded between them.  Wes stroked Adrian’s cock with languid pulls.  “Fuck, Adrian.  So good.”

Adrian’s cock was still remarkably stiff in Wes’s grip. Before his turn, Adrian always had a healthy sex drive, but never like this—never raring to go after less than a minute.  Ramped up on hormones flooding his body, together with the overactive libido all vampire males had, Adrian knew he could go all night with Wes.  His mate was thinking the exact same thing; Wes’s dripping dick against Adrian’s thigh evidence enough.

They were no longer fucking, Adrian surmised through his lust-filled haze as he looked up into his mate’s eyes.  They were consummating the feelings between them.  They were both excited and scared as they traveled into unknown territory.

Adrian couldn’t put his pants on and walk out of this after they were done.  He’d walk out of here with his mate and partner at his side.  They were unbreakable now.  That scared him shitless.  It turned him on more.

Adrian dragged Wes down for a kiss. Their fangs clashed with enthusiasm, clacking against each other as their tongues fought for dominance in each other’s mouth.  Sharp points scored their lips.  Their blood mingled in a cocktail of foreplay.  They licked and tasted, sucked and kissed until their mouths were swollen and their eyes were blown wide with shock.

Wes pushed another finger inside of Adrian.  Adrian moaned into Wes’s mouth.  He clung to Wes’s broad shoulders and lifted his ass for more.  The stretch was so good Adrian’s balls lifted for another round, but Wes must have sensed it and eased back onto his heels.

He sat down on the bed and grabbed onto of one of Adrian’s hands.  “Come here.  Slow it down for me.”

Adrian mourned the loss of Wes’s body on top of him, but he was more than eager to return to Wes’s arms.  He sat on top of Wes’s thigh and braced himself by holding on to Wes’s shoulders.  Adrian lowered his head.  He couldn’t stop himself from getting another kiss.  They were becoming an addiction.

Wes put his hands on Adrian’s ass, encouraging him to grind atop his thigh.  The lube made the skin slick and perfect for creating the friction they both wanted.  Wes kissed Adrian back, slow and deep yet hot and heavy until they both had to gasp for air.

Adrian held on to Wes as his mate dipped his head and licked a nipple with the flat of his tongue.  The texture and warmth instantly hardened Adrian’s sensitive nub. Made it hard to breathe.  Made his cock fill and swell to epic proportions.  Made Adrian hiss until his fangs bit into his lip.

He gathered power in his hips, thrusting against Wes until his mate’s thigh was coated in glossy fluid.  Adrian lifted Wes’s face to him and kissed him harder than before, insistent they do something about the pang of need growing in Adrian’s belly.

Wes obliged by smacking Adrian’s ass before he laid him out on the bed and crawled between his legs.  “You trust me?”

“With my life.”

Wes nodded as if the answer was hard to swallow, but also like it gave him a sense of pride.  Adrian smelled his mate’s joy.  Heard it whispered in his head through their bond.

“I care about you.”  Wes stroked Adrian’s cock.  “A lot.  You scared me, Adrian.  I’m still scared about what’s happening, but if you stick around, I’ll be okay.”

“Think I’m gonna leave?”  Adrian lifted his hips and groaned.

“I hope not.  I need you.”  Wes put their cocks together and pumped them in his hand, slicking them up with another dose of lube.

Adrian put his hand behind Wes’s neck and pulled him down.  “If I never have to sleep another night in that fucking closet of a room, I’ll stay with you forever.”  Adrian grinned, despite the growing desperation for Wes’s cock inside him.  It was even harder to maintain the nagging beast in the background.  He needed something to sate it, and soon.

“Fuck that room,” Wes growled.  “You sleep in our bed.”

Adrian liked the sound of that.  He cupped Wes’s ass and hooked his ankles over Wes’s shoulders, drawing his mate snuggly against him.  “This isn’t our bed.”

“Do we look like we’re sleeping?”

Adrian felt the head of Wes’s cock pressing against his ass, not forcing inside, but there all the same.  “No,” he purred.

“Good.”

“That’s my line.”

“Not anymore.” Wes pushed inside of Adrian and it was like a light had been switched on in Adrian’s head.  One moment he was coherent and quipping it up with Wes.  The next, Adrian swore he felt every muscle in his body scream “Fuck yes,” and drown in the Wes-induced flood that tore through his body.

Adrian roared as Wes drove deep, and then he gulped for air, the breath knocked from his lungs with his mate’s powerful thrust.  Adrian’s beast swam to the surface.  Although Wes wanted this to between them, Adrian’s beast was a part of him.  Now that Wes understood the trust they shared, Adrian welcomed his aggressive nature back into the fold.

He raked his nails over Wes’s ass, dug them into his mate’s muscled backside until he was sure he’d left marks.  Wes’s heavy panting was music to Adrian’s ears.  Adrian heard every breath, every grunt and every curse.  He felt without any regret of giving over.  All was right between them.  Even his beast agreed to this turn of events.

Their roles were reversed, the hunter was now the hunted and he had no problem being captured if this was his punishment.  He looked up at his mate’s gray eyes to find the same feeling in them.  Wes didn’t do this to appease Adrian’s need.  He didn’t pity him.  He just wanted him.

“Fuck me,” Adrian growled.  “Hard.”

Wes grabbed onto Adrian’s ankles and thrust home, hitting all the right places inside Adrian.  They both groaned in pleasure, but as with every newly turned vampire, sex wasn’t all that Adrian needed.

On Wes’s next withdraw from his body Adrian pushed his mate to his back, managing to keep Wes inside.  He fell onto Wes’s cock and planted his hands on Wes’s chest.  He gritted his fangs and rode his mate, loving the new angle almost much as Wes’s blood.  Wes held onto Adrian’s thighs as Adrian lowered his upper body onto Wes’s chest.

Wes kissed him, accepting Adrian’s tongue.  He gently yanked on Adrian’s hair to look him in the eye.  “You’re still thirsty.  It’s okay. Take from me.”

“I don’t want to drain you.”

“You won’t.” Wes smiled and thrust up into Adrian.  He slid his hands up Adrian’s spine until he coaxed Adrian down to his neck.  “It’s all yours, baby.”

Adrian rubbed Wes’s cheek with his.  He loved Wes’s whiskery jaw, the scrape along his skin as he licked his way down to Wes’s throat.  The pulse drew him in.  The smell captivated his senses, held him prisoner until he was forced to pierce Wes’s skin with his fangs.  The blood entered his mouth, traveled into his body.  His mate’s magic worked him over.

Adrian felt powerful.  He felt loved.  He could do anything.

Wes’s voice was a constant moan.  His hands were everywhere and his cock drilled Adrian’s ass on repeat.  The sheer strength in Wes rivaled even the newest turned vampire as he rolled his hips and held Adrian against him.  Yes, Adrian allowed himself to be confined in Wes’s arms, but he knew if it came down to escape, Wes would put up one hell of a fight.

The thought made him smile and suck harder at his mate’s throat.  More importantly, Wes’s strength made Adrian feel safe—an idea that under no circumstances he thought he’d need to feel.  The ache in his belly and chest were almost gone, which meant he was nearly full.  Wes had the other end covered, and Adrian wanted to make Wes come without the aid of bloodlust.

He knew all too well how easy it was to be whisked away during Wes’s feedings.  This time, they both needed to be aware.

Adrian withdrew his fangs and lifted his upper body to look down at his mate, to allow Wes to see the power he now had.  He was proud of it and wanted to flaunt it to his mate.  Wes didn’t disappoint.  He fawned over Adrian’s body with his hands, aiding Adrian’s hips as they moved to ride his cock.

A tempo built.  The pressure mounted.  Adrian dug his fingers into Wes’s muscles and rode his mate to the end.  Wes’s eyes swirled.  Adrian knew his mate was close, closer still when Wes grabbed his ass, flipped him onto his back and thrust in deeper than ever. 

Wes bared his fangs to the ceiling and roared his claim as he filled Adrian with his seed.  Adrian would have been scared by this had he been completely human and susceptible to disease, but thankfully his DNA was stronger than a human’s and shielded him from mortal troubles.

He sighed and welcomed his mate’s warm intrusion as Wes continued to bury it farther inside of him.

The next thing Adrian knew Wes was at his throat.  Fangs sank into him, a familiar feeling he had accepted from his partner many times before this.  His body buzzed with Wes’s comfort, his satisfaction, his happiness. Inundated Adrian until he was so high he could have crawled out of his skin had he been able to catch his breath.

The last thing he remembered before he passed out was Wes’s red coated lips and Wes’s hand stroking him to orgasm.  His own cum splattered onto Wes’s chest.  So fucking hot.  It ran down Wes’s well-defined belly, where his fingers caught a thick dribble and brought a taste to his lips.

Wes groaned around his finger.  “You taste like sin, Adrian,” he rasped.

Adrian let out a contented sigh.  Then it was lights out in his thoroughly satisfied head.

***

Adrian awoke to a new day.  At least he was pretty sure it was morning.  He’d been certain the last time Wes had roused him it wasn’t all that dark out anymore.  There wasn’t a clock or a phone near him to tell the time, but there was a giant of a man propped up in bed next to him, reading a tablet and eating what looked to be French fries.

The scent of salty, fried potato sticks woke his stomach up.  He snatched the fry from Wes’s hand before he could eat it.  Adrian had no recollection of how it tasted going down, but he knew he wanted more.

“Christ, hold on, would ya? I got you something right here.”

Adrian huffed.  “Wes, if this is a dick joke, I swear I can’t take anymore.  My ass is numb after the last round and there is no way you have anything left in your balls to give.”

Wes stopped reaching for the bag on the nightstand and stared at Adrian.

“What?”  Adrian sat back and sighed.  “I didn’t mean we couldn’t.  I’m just hungry.  Sorry if it sounded—”

“That’s not it at all.” Adrian looked up to see Wes grinning.  He was surprised when Wes kissed him softly.  “I’m just glad you’re back.”

Adrian raised a brow.  “I’ve been here the whole time.  I think you of all people know that.”

“I know.”  Wes shook his head.  “It’s just … just different this time.  You and me.  I mean, you’re awake, like really awake, and you remember everything, right?”

“Yeah.” Adrian patted down his overgrown bangs to camouflage his blush. “Stop being weird.”

“Adrian, we’ve far surpassed weird.  You can hear me now.  That’s a fucking miracle in itself.”  Wes put the tablet down and scooted over.  “I’m not trying to have some bare it all talk here.  Just been thinking about this for hours, and I don’t have anyone else to talk to about it.”

Adrian stopped concealing his emotions for a second to let Wes’s words sink in.  He could hear.  He heard every word.  Now that they weren’t sexed up and all over each other, that fact hit harder than before.  He cleared his throat and turned away before he cried.

“Adrian,” Wes murmured and pulled him close.  Adrian didn’t put up a fight.  He leaned back into Wes.  “What does it feel like to hear all the sudden?”

Impossible—that’s how it felt.  When Adrian was dying as a human, he thought he’d been able to hear his mate because he was dying and he clung to the memory of Wes’s voice in case he never heard it again.  During sex, he’d been too unfocused to make sense of his new ability.  And now, as he dealt with it head on, Adrian had no real words to offer Wes.

He closed his eyes and crossed his arms, twining his fingers with Wes’s.  “Say my name.”

Wes snorted.  “You sure are hot and cold, aren’t you?”

“That wasn’t an invitation to my ass.”  Adrian took a deep breath.  “I’m serious.  Say my name,” Adrian pleaded on a whisper.  Tears gathered in his lashes.

Wes’s scent changed.  Adrian was overcome with his mate’s compassion.  Wes lowered his lips to Adrian’s ear.  “Adrian,” he rumbled.

Three syllables would never sound as beautiful from any other lips.  “Again?”

“Adrian.”  Wes rubbed his arms.  Goose bumps formed along Adrian’s skin. “Adrian,” he repeated, even softer this time.

Adrian kept his eyes squeezed shut, learning Wes’s voice for every letter, every single breathe and noise, before he woke up and it was all a dream.

“Want to hear something amazing?”

Adrian tried to turn to see Wes’s face, but his mate had already leaned away to grab his phone.  “What are you doing?”

Wes situated himself behind Adrian and settled his mate back against him.  He gave Adrian his phone.  “Pick one.”

Wes munched on a fry.  He put the bag in Adrian’s lap.  On the phone screen was what looked to be a music playlist of some sort.  Adrian had never had a need for an app like that before and he always deleted them when they came preprogrammed in his phone.  Now that he could hear, thanks to Wes’s bond or at least he thought that was the reason, Adrian didn’t know what to choose.  There were so many options, and only one first time.

“You choose.”  Adrian shoved the phone at his mate.

Wes chuckled.  “How about we hit random?  No pressure that way.”

“Okay.”  Adrian shoved a few fries in his mouth and settled in.

The first notes hit the air.  Adrian closed his eyes and tried to breathe.  He’d often wondered what those notes would sound like.  Wondered why people wore headphones everywhere like they couldn’t get enough music in their system.  Now he knew.

It could have been the national anthem and Adrian would have cried.  Could have been someone humming in the background and Adrian would have lost it.  Wes held him while he sobbed.  He didn’t tell him not to cry or make some hushing noise to quiet him.  He let Adrian blubber like a baby because he knew what this meant to Adrian.

Because of a simple song, Adrian foresaw a future he’d never thought he’d have.  He saw his mate, their home, and the happiness they could have.  Not because he could hear, although that was nice too.  Because he had it all and he hadn’t even known he had it to begin with.

This was the start of his life.  This was his whisper in the silence, his invitation to keep going because great things were on the horizon. Through his tears he began to laugh.  He continued as Wes maneuvered around to face him, concern drawing his eyebrows close together.

“I’m okay.”  Adrian looped his arms around Wes’s neck.  “Hi.”

Wes rubbed away Adrian’s tears with his thumbs.  “Hi?” Adrian smiled and leaned in.  Wes’s grin lit him up inside.  “Did you develop multiple personalities during the turn, or is this just … something.”

“Just something.”  Adrian kissed him.  “I’m done now.”

“Done with me?”

“Done being haunted by shit I can’t change.  We move forward from here on out.  I want to learn who I am, and I want to do that with you.  And I don’t want to feel weird about it.  Can we do that?”

Wes took Adrian’s hands in his and kissed his knuckles.  “It’s not gonna be pretty, but I accept your challenge.  We might want to include a weird clause because I can’t promise you anything there.”

“Fucker.”  Adrian tried to pull his hands away, but Wes wasn’t having it.  “We’re having one of those moments. People who … like each other like this get to have those moments.  It was supposed to be normal and you wrecked it.”

Wes put his forehead to Adrian’s.  His grin was full of life.  “Normal is overrated, baby.  No one is perfect.  No one fits the ever changing mold that is unattainable.  You and I work as mates because to each other our flaws are some of our best assets.  I’m the jerk with the good looks and you’re the secret assassin with a closeted sappy streak.  That’s never gonna change, and I don’t want it to change.  I want you to grow, and I won’t to grow with you.  So if that isn’t your idea of a “moment for people who like each other” then I don’t know what is.”  Wes kissed the corner of Adrian’s mouth.  “If you were looking for an “I love you too” then you already know I do or you wouldn’t have put yourself out there like that.  I’m in this, Adrian.  You’re stuck with me, like eternally.”

Adrian chuckled.  Smiling felt better than scowling.  It lifted stress from his body and allowed him to see the good things he’d pushed away all his life.  “I guess I love you too.”  He shrugged.

“You guess?  I made that beautiful speech on the fly and you guess?  Oh no, that won’t do.  I wear the pants here.”

“You don’t have pants on.” Adrian hit Wes with a pillow.  His mate retaliated and shoved him back. The mattress bounced under their combined weight and Adrian laughed. 

Wes covered Adrian and kissed him soundly.  “So we’ve got cold fries to eat, or we could take our mini mob downstairs and go get some real food.  Give you a chance to acclimate to civilian life before we get back to work.  It takes some getting used to—the millions of heartbeats, the smells, and acting human when you’re not.”

“Work…”

“Mm hmm, you remember you have a badge and a gun and you get to chase bad guys? That kind of work.”  Wes trailed kisses down Adrian’s neck.

Adrian sat up straight, shoving Wes out of the way.  “Holy shit, Wes!  Halverson.”

“Well, my boner is officially gone.  Thanks for that.”  Wes rubbed his chest where Adrian had pushed him.

“We have to get dressed.  He’s still out there, isn’t he?  I haven’t been out for a week, right?”  Adrian searched the room for his clothes.  “Get up and help me.”

Wes padded over to Adrian and turned him around.  “Breathe it out, boy scout.  The minute you leave this room it’s going to be nothing but action.  We gotta be professional, partners, and we can’t take moments to ourselves.  Think this through.  Another couple of hours with me and I update you in private, give it time to sink in, or you can go running in blind.  It’s up to you.  Personally, I think there are things you need to know before you jump the gun.”

“Things like what?”

“Things like right before you woke up Red Sinclair paid me a visit, a full body afterlife vision kind of visit.  Things like Quinton performed hypnotherapy on you and made you remember that night in Surik, which provided evidence that Halverson was there that night and he killed your dad and Red Sinclair.  Things like Redding is Red’s mate and he was there to save you.  Things like Camille Sinclair had your mother put down…”

Adrian’s vision went red.  He shook in Wes’s embrace.  He couldn’t voice how he felt he was so mad.

“That’s why I need you to sit down and take some deep breaths before you do something scary you can’t take back.  You’re a vampire now, Adrian.  Everything you feel comes out like a goddamn storm.  Think it through, baby.”  Wes guided Adrian to the bed.  “Give me a sign you understand what I’m saying.”

Adrian nodded.  He refused to let go of Wes.

“That’s good, baby.  Tell me what you’re thinking.  I mean, I can feel it, but I need black and white here.  Tell me what you need from me and I’ll make it happen.”  Wes crouched between Adrian’s legs as he sat on the bed.

“Tell me everything.”  Adrian’s fingers cracked as he let go of Wes.  To his relief, Wes got up and sat on the bed, putting an arm around him.  “Everything.”

***

Four hours and a pizza later, Adrian walked down the steps of Elle Franco’s townhouse a changed man.  With his mate right behind him, Adrian emerged onto the front steps where the Bureau’s Guards were gathered.  Sutton got out of a vehicle parked at the curb and Davis and Fontine followed him.

Everyone looked to Adrian and started clapping.  Passerby traffic shot a few looks their way, but thankfully a small round of applause wasn’t even close to unusual behavior in Brooklyn.

“Congratulations, Adrian.”  Sutton offered his nephew a hand.  “You look well,” he mouthed out of habit.

Adrian shook his uncle’s hand firmly.  He pulled back when he realized just how firm he’d been.  “I can hear you.”

“No shit?”  Davis’s jaw dropped.  His deep voice was exactly what Adrian had pictured in his mind, minus the raspy undertone that gave Davis an edge with the ladies no doubt. 

“No shit,” Wes confirmed.  “We got superpowers.”

The Guards rumbled with laughter.  Their breath rolled out of their mouths with the chilly weather, and for once, foggy breath had nothing to do with spirits. Speaking of spirits, Adrian grew anxious to get out of this place and start finding Halverson, if he hadn’t gone ghost already—no pun intended.

Fontine put his arm around Adrian to lead him to the vehicle.  Wes growled low in his throat and Fontine stopped dead in his tracks.  Adrian looked over his shoulder to see Wes groaning into his hand.

“Sorry,” his mate apologized.  “Just … fuck, I’m sorry.  We’re … me and him … gonna take some getting used to. Could you just not touch him for a bit, at least while we … work some shit out.”

Fontine winked.  “I got you.  Anything you need, man.  Can we get the fuck out of this weather, though?  It’s cold as a witch’s tit out here.”

“You’re a fucking baby, bro. It’s snow, not the end of the world,” Davis said.

“Since you love it so much, you can walk back and get shriveled dick syndrome while you’re at it.  The rest of us will go watch Adrian and Wes interrogate Camille.  Could you and your raisin balls pick us up some popcorn on your way in?  I’m sure it will be one hell of a show.”  Fontine tapped his foot on the sidewalk.  “I take that as a no?”

“Some things never change.”  Wes sighed and got into the car.  “Come on, Adrian, we’ll leave them both here to duke it out.”

Adrian slapped Fontine upside the head.  “Get in the car, both of you.  We don’t have time for this.”

“Sir yes sir.” Davis saluted Adrian.  “Still bossy I see.”

“Still looking for a fucking serial killer I see,” Adrian replied with deadly calm.

“Oh.  Right.”  Davis chuckled nervously and slid in next to Adrian.

Fontine glanced sideways at Sutton.  “You’re really going to let them in to talk with her?  I mean…”

Sutton looked at Adrian.  The hatred in his eyes at the mention of her was shared by Adrian.  The Captain’s lips lifted on one side.  “She should have thought of that before she fucked with my family.”  He looked over his shoulder at the remaining Guards.  “Four on the townhouse, and I don’t have time to decide.  The rest of you report to Yuri for your new posts.”

Fontine lifted his brows at Davis before he rounded the car to get in the front passenger seat.  “Papa bear en route to the honey,” he spoke to dispatch via his Bluetooth.  “All clear.”

The doors shut and locked after Sutton was safely stowed in the back with the others.  “Gun it, Fletcher.”

“Yes, sir.” the driver responded from the front.

The car pulled away from the curb.  Sutton folded his hands in his lap and regarded Adrian.  “Surik.  The house.  Last known owner was named Igor Ryznaki.  Rap sheet a mile long, sexual predator, assault priors, and only did about two years in lockup because he had an excellent attorney.  In his younger days, he was a med school student, wanted to be a surgeon, but then he got locked up and there was no going back for him.”

“He tied to Camille?”  Wes hooked his pinky around Adrian’s.

Sutton nodded.  “The same attorney used to bail out Igor is a prominent member on the board for His Children and Ryznaki was a patron.  The deed for the house was transferred to a private party when Ryznaki went missing a few years back, and guess who the account belongs to now?”

“His attorney,” Adrian growled.

“Bingo.”  Sutton nodded.  “That’s not all.  Ryznaki kept records in the basement walls.  One document in particular peaked our team’s interest.”  Sutton flipped his phone around.  “Birth certificate for a Sasha Robert Ryznaki.  Mother is listed as Roberta Halverson, the attorney.  She signed rights to Igor at birth.  Looks like a cover up on both their parts.  A female with that kind of pull couldn’t have a child with a lowlife like Igor.  Not in Camille’s circle.”

“Fuck her circle.”  Adrian gripped Wes’s pinky like a lifeline.  “Are you saying Sasha is…?”

“Halverson,” Sutton finished for him.

To be continued…