Thirty minutes later, Jon arrived downtown. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up the entire bus ride. He’d felt like he was being followed, but when he’d looked, he couldn’t see anyone watching him.
Trying to shake the odd feeling, Jon walked the few blocks to Nikolas’s building and went inside. He ignored the smiling security guards who watched him walk to the elevator, and the people nodding at him as they passed by in the hallway. He didn’t stop to talk to anyone until he stood in front of the secretary’s desk.
“Hello, my name is—”
“Jon Brighten,” the secretary finished for him, smiling broadly.
“Uh, yeah. I’d like to see Mr. Vaile.”
“Certainly, Mr. Brighten,” the woman said as she stood and walked over to Nikolas’s office. She opened the door and moved aside. “Please come in and make yourself comfortable. I’ll let Mr. Vaile know you are here.”
“Thank you,” Jon said as he slid past her and into Nikolas’s office. He set his bag down by the door, confused when it closed behind him. What in the hell was going on? The bulldog secretary had been way too nice, too friendly.
Did everyone know he’d slept with Nikolas?
Depressed and yearning for something he couldn’t quite define, Jon walked over to stare out the window. He didn’t understand this overwhelming desire he had for Nikolas. At this point, he wasn’t even sure if he needed to understand it. He just knew he craved the man.
He ached for Nikolas.
Chapter Seven
Nikolas’s heart pounded as he opened his office door and spotted Jon standing in front of the large, floor-to-ceiling office windows. He looked dejected, his shoulders slumped and his skin paler than normal. Yet he still looked like the most wonderful thing Nikolas had ever seen.
Jon needed time—time to get used to being claimed—but the waiting had nearly killed Nikolas. Luckily, the waiting was over. Jon had come back, and he’d never leave again if Nikolas had anything to say about it.
“I don’t understand this need I have to be near you, Nikolas.” Jon spoke so softly that even with his superior hearing Nikolas had to strain to hear the words. “I’m confused and scared and I want to know why I can’t stop thinking about you.”
Nikolas walked up behind him, hesitantly wrapped his arms around Jon, and gently drew him close until the man rested back against him. He leaned down and inhaled Jon’s masculine scent, feeling instantly dizzy and light-headed.
“You are my rajaaka,” Nikolas whispered against Jon’s neck as he rubbed his face against him, “forever bound to me.”
“A–am I a vampire?”
Nikolas chuckled. So many humans held that belief, a myth created centuries ago by some disgruntled lover of a vampire no one could remember. “No, rajaaka, you must be born a vampire. You cannot be made into one.”
“But you’re a vampire, aren’t you?”
“Yes.” Nikolas wouldn’t lie to Jon even if he could feel the small shudder of fear go through the man’s body. “I am a vampire, but I will never hurt you. You are my rajaaka. I am incapable of hurting you.”
“What does that mean…rajaaka?” Jon whispered as he leaned his head back against Nikolas’s shoulder. “You keep using that word.”
“I told you, it means you’re mine.”
“Yeah, but… oh god!”
Nikolas stroked one hand down Jon’s chest to the edge of his pants. A flick of his wrist and he was able to push under the waistband. He wasn’t surprised to encounter a rock-hard cock. Being newly claimed, Jon would feel the need to mate and mate often.
Nikolas flicked his tongue against the bite mark on Jon’s neck even as his hand wrapped around the man’s straining cock, gently stroking him. He heard Jon moan, felt him tremble and inhale sharply.
“Nikolas, please.”
“Petjya,” Nikolas corrected, repeating his words from the first time they were together. “I will hear petjya from your lips.”
“I need—I need to know—”
“I know what you need, rajaaka.” Nikolas stroked Jon’s cock faster. “I will care for you.”
When Nikolas licked the side of Jon’s neck, scrapping his teeth along the man’s soft skin, Jon seemed to melt into him. Nikolas knew the arm he had wrapped around Jon’s waist was the only thing keeping him from dropping to the floor.
“Petjya!” Jon cried out just as he came. Hot spunk streamed from his cock and covered Nikolas’s hand a moment later. At the same time, Nikolas sank his fangs into the soft flesh of Jon’s neck. The man’s sweet nectar filled his mouth.
Nikolas felt overwhelmed as he retracted his fangs. He needed. He ached. His cock throbbed. He needed to take Jon again, to feel his cock sink into the man’s silky depths until he felt nothing else except his rajaaka.
“Hands on the window, rajaaka,” Nikolas bit out between clenched teeth. The moment Jon leaned forward and placed his hands against the reinforced glass, Nikolas pushed the man’s pants down and off his legs.
He nudged Jon’s legs apart and knelt behind him. Jon’s body quivered as Nikolas grabbed his ass cheeks and spread them apart. Nikolas leaned forward and ran his tongue over Jon’s puckered hole.
“Oh, fuck me!”
“I intend to,” Nikolas replied before applying a liberal dose of spittle in and around Jon’s tight ring of muscles with his tongue. He’d have to remember to stock his office with lube in the future. He had a rajaaka to care for now.
Until then, he’d have to loosen his mate up the old-fashioned way. Nikolas licked and stroked, pushing against Jon’s pink hole. He could feel Jon’s legs shaking against him. The man’s entire body seemed to vibrate with each stroke of Nikolas’s tongue.
Jon’s cries were heaven to Nikolas’s ears. He savored each one, wrapped himself up in the sweet sound, knowing he was giving his rajaaka unimaginable pleasure. The knowledge was almost enough to make him come in his slacks.
As it was, Nikolas didn’t think it would take much. His cock ached so much it actually hurt. He jumped to his feet and searched the room for something, anything he could use to ease his way. He’d rather cut off his arm than hurt Jon, even if it meant he couldn’t claim him again.
Nikolas’s gaze settled on a small bottle of all-natural, unscented hand lotion on the bookshelf near his desk. He raced across the room with unnatural speed then back, not gone from Jon for more than a second or two. He couldn’t bear to leave the man’s side, now that he’d returned.
Squirting a good amount of lotion onto his cock, he lubed himself up and then spread the remaining amount on Jon’s tight hole, pressing his fingers inside to insure he was stretched enough.
Nikolas groaned, a heady feeling filling him when Jon’s body sucked him right in as if it needed to be filled. Nikolas quickly pulled his fingers out and grabbed his cock, guiding it into Jon’s ass. A long, drawn-out cry fell from Jon’s lips as Nikolas sank right in up to his balls, and Nikolas echoed that sound of desire with one of his own.
“Fuck, you feel so good, rajaaka.” Nikolas groaned as he started moving slowly, then faster and faster. He gripped Jon’s hips as he pounded into the man’s tight hole. Jon’s little cries had turned into one long wail. Nikolas struggled for breath. All the air seemed to have been sucked out of the room.
“Petjya!” Jon’s body stiffened.
Nikolas cried out as Jon’s inner muscles clamped down on his cock. The man climaxed, ropes of pearly white cream shooting all over the floor and the window. Nikolas delighted in hearing the ancient endearment come from his rajaaka’s lips. He knew Jon didn’t understand the significance of the word, the deep meaning behind it, but Nikolas did.
And the knowledge sent him right over the edge after Jon. He tried to keep his claws retracted as he came but felt them dig into Jon’s hips even as he filled the man with his seed. The intensity of his orgasm made it impossible for Nikolas to stop.
Nikolas hunched over Jon and held the man’s body close to his. His heart beat rapidly in his chest. He could feel Jon’s heartbeat as well, the pulse in his neck throbbing as blood pumped quickly through his veins. Nikolas groaned as his softening cock slid free of Jon’s ass.
Smelling Jon’s blood, a scent that would forever be imprinted on him, Nikolas dropped to his knees and lapped at the small claw marks on Jon’s hips, his saliva closing the small cuts up.
His heart ached. He had lost control and harmed his rajaaka. Only moments ago, he’d promised Jon he would never hurt him and yet he’d gone ahead and done just that. Nikolas could only pray Jon would forgive him and not leave, even though he had every right.
He turned Jon, wrapping his arms around Jon’s waist, burying his face in Jon’s abdomen. “Please forgive me, rajaaka. I have no excuse for hurting you. I lost control and I—”
“That was you losing control?” Jon chuckled as he brushed his fingers through Nikolas’s hair. “We might have to try that a little more often.”
What?
Surely he hadn’t heard the man right. He’d dug his claws into Jon’s skin. He’d hurt him. Jon had to be angry at him, maybe even disappointed. Nikolas opened his eyes and glanced up at Jon. He was stunned to see a very satisfied grin on Jon’s lips. The man looked much happier than when he first arrived. His skin glowed. The worry lines around his eyes had lessened.