Page 46 of Inevitably Yves

Irritating? Yes.

It took me a few decades to realize he was manipulating me and the other coven members, convincing us that we would disintegrate on contact with sunlight. So much of what he told me was pure lies, made up in the mind of a man who was slowly losing his grip on reality. Or maybe he never had it in the first place. It isn’t the sanest choice to summon demons and fuck with their games.

Damiano is just as agitated as I am, standing in front of the windows waiting for the sun to come up, his lean, toned, and very naked body a siren song luring me to him. I want to invite him back to bed, back inside of me where he always belonged. I want to drink from him, lose myself in the scent that haunted my dreams for centuries, coat my tongue with him. I want him to climb inside me and heal every wound I’ve incurred over the years.

“Beloved,” Damiano whispers, turning to me.

My gaze moves down his body, and I practically salivate over the sight of his semi-hard cock hanging heavy between his legs.

“Yes?”

“Your desire makes me dizzy. Gods, how I want to worship you. I missed you so.”

“It warms my heart that our connection is still so vibrant. I’m not used to someone knowing me so fully.”

“Your brothers have a strong connection.”

His tone has enough hint of jealousy in it that I smile. “Not like ours. They know what I wish them to know. It takes a great deal of effort to block you from my thoughts.”

He crosses the room, climbing back into bed with me. “What is it like, Yves, to turn someone and keep them?”

“You never have?”

He shakes his head. “I turned someone once, but it wasn’t intentional. It was during the Great War, and I thought I could help heal him. I went too far.”

“What happened then?”

Sadness clouds his features like a sudden storm moving in. “I didn’t have time to tell him anything. No rules or…” Damiano shakes his head. “He was so hungry. He drank from the dead.”

“Shit,” I whisper.

“And not just once. I found him on a pile of dead soldiers. I was only gone from him an hour or so, but his hunger fueled his choices before I could warn him. I didn’t save him, Yves. I made his last moments on earth the most painful. He would have been better off dying from his bullet wound.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“I was disgusted with myself. As I watched his body burn on a pyre of my making, I vowed never to turn another person.” His smile is somber as he meets my gaze. “And here you’ve made a whole family.”

“Don’t make me out to be more honorable than I am. My intentions were selfish, greedy, gluttonous. The men I chose…” I shake my head. “Their mortal lives didn’t matter to me. I just wanted them, and I found ways to seduce them. I used my ability to understand their weaknesses and lure them to me. Am I honorable?”

“You saved them, Yves. You cannot make yourself a monster in my eyes, and I doubt you could in theirs either. What would they have had without you? Imprisonment, slavery, a royal or aristocratic life with no choices of their own. You gave them the gift of life—one they could design. You gave them purpose, family, and ultimately, fated love.” He rubs my thigh. “Yes, Yves, you are honorable. You are the vampire Hadrian wished he could be.”

“I don’t regret my choices. My brothers mean a lot to me, and their existence has ushered me through many dark times. I likely wouldn’t have made it this long without them. Not after losing you.”

“So tell me then. What is it like to turn someone you wish to keep? Do you feel like the god you are?”

Nostalgia tugs at my chest. “Yes, it’s very powerful. I imagine it is exactly what a god feels like. To create something, to share blood, to know you gave someone immortality…” I smile. “It’s heady and addictive.”

“And it was Syn first,” Dami says. “How did he react?”

“It took him a little while to realize he was truly free of the life he had before me, but once he did, oh, he enjoyed himself. It was so beautiful to see him accept his desires and relish them instead of feeling shame.”

“He’s very attractive. I understand what led you to him.”

“He is, but his soul is even more alluring than his face. His loyalty is like nothing I have ever experienced. The bond a vampire has with his maker is unmatched.”

Damiano hums. “That’s why Hadrian can still affect us.”

“Yes.”

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