Page 6 of These Dangerous Fates

My whole life I have trained for two roles: assassin and prince.

As the son of the Vampire King, I’ve long ago learned to comply with my father’s wishes and never question him. For a hundred years, I have done just that, as far as he’s aware. But tonight, I struggled to keep my cool. I had to bite my tongue to prevent myself from telling my father to fuck off. Even now, I want to march to his office and tell him he can take the next missions and shove them up his ass.

Red tinges my vision as I make my way through the estate, and it’s not because I need to feed. Never, in my hundred years of existence, have I ever been so pissed off. Even with my abilities filtering all the emotions from everyone around me, I’ve never been this out of control. My body vibrates with it. My fangs have elongated—something that happens when I lose control of my emotions. The tide of anger rises higher and higher, and before I know what I’m doing, I throw out my arm and my fist connects with the wall.

The marble splinters under my fist. Fissures spiderweb outward and a few small pieces of stone fall to the floor. I pull my hand back and grimace at the damage—not only to the wall, but my fingers as well. Pretty sure I broke a few knuckles. The dull ache of broken bones doesn’t help ease the anger like I hoped it would.

Sighing, I reign in my emotions and head to my bedroom. I need to shower. I’m covered in blood that isn’t mine, and the scent is making me nauseous. Before I even open my bedroom door, the thump of a familiar heartbeat meets my ears. I recognize it immediately.

“Why am I not surprised to find you here?” I drawl as I push open the door.

Cade Campbell gives me a lazy grin from the window seat and raises his glass of bourbon in salute. “You would think after all these years, you would stop asking us to leave you alone after your solitary missions. We’re not going to listen.”

A grunt is my only reply as I head straight for the bar in the corner of my room and pour myself a generous glass of blood bourbon. Whoever the hell invented this shit is my hero. Blood and alcohol mixed perfectly together. The only way to get a vampire drunk.

“What’s wrong?” Cade’s violet eyes narrow as he studies me, and his smile disappears. “And what happened to your hand?”

“I punched a wall,” I say flatly, looking at my broken knuckles.

He studies me some more before understanding dawns. “You’re angry.”

Of course he could read me. Only two people in all of Lustros know me well enough to do that. The fact that Cade is surprised by my anger only pisses me off more. I’m always the cool one of the group, the one who jokes and takes nothing seriously. I have to be. With my powers, even the slightest bit of emotion can drive me to insanity. For once, I just want to feel what I feel and not repress it.

I down the blood bourbon in one gulp, barely registering the burn as it slides down my throat, and throw the glass against the wall. It shatters, glass flying everywhere. Of course, it doesn’t take the edge off. Neither did hitting the wall. I try to flex my fingers and wince. Thanks to my fast healing as a vampire, they’ll heal on their own in a couple of hours, but it will hurt like a bitch while they do.

Cade stands from the window seat and sets his glass on the bar. Purple light flares as he grabs my wrist and runs his fingers over my knuckles. A squeezing sensation, like a blood pressure cuff, envelops my hand, and the itch of healing settles under my skin. One blink is all it takes and I’m good as new again.

“You didn’t have to do that,” I mumble, flexing my now healed fingers.

He shrugs. “You know I don’t mind.” Pausing, he looks into my eyes. “Do you need an outlet for your anger?”

I clench my jaw and look away. The friend that he is, he will offer himself up everyday if needed, even knowing how much I hate using him. I’m not sure what I did to earn a friendship like his.

“I’ll repeat myself,” Cade says darkly. “You know I don’t mind.”

He steps closer and his cologne hits me—a woodsy floral scent that is all him, like cedar and lilac. His heart beats in his chest, slightly elevated but steady. And those violet eyes stare into my own as if he can see into my soul.

“I need to shower first,” I ground out.

Before I can walk away, he stops me with a hand on my chest. “I don’t mind the blood.” His voice has lowered, a gravelly, husky sound that shivers over my skin.

“Fuck,” I growl, losing the little control I have over my body, and shoving him against the wall.

My mouth crashes against his, and it’s fast and violent as our teeth and tongues collide. I grab the brown strands of his hair and tighten my fist, making him moan into my mouth. This is exactly the kind of outlet I needed.

Cade’s hands fumble with my belt and I push them aside as I shove him to his knees. He looks up at me with his wide, violet eyes and I almost lose my shit right there. This man is the perfect friend, willing to do anything for the people he cares about.

I get my belt and pants undone and pull out my cock. It’s hard as a fucking rock, and I want nothing more than to shove it down Cade’s throat. I restrain myself, though, as he opens his mouth. His tongue slides up the underside, trailing over the piercings there, making my knees tremble. A teasing smirk pulls up one corner of his lips. He knows exactly what he’s doing to me. I growl and he sucks the head of my cock inside his mouth, his tongue tracing the slit.

All I can see is the top of Cade’s head as he slowly continues to tease me. He ramps me up with slow, steady movements until I can’t take it anymore. It’s euphoria. The suction and warmth, his violet eyes. A flutter in my chest almost pulls me out of the moment. It’s weird and unsettling, and I have no fucking clue what it means.

Needing to push that sensation to the back of my mind, I grab Cade’s head and slam my cock to the back of his throat. I hold him there for a second while he chokes before I release him, only to repeat that again and again. He meets my gaze through lowered lids, and I piston my hips faster, harder, fucking his mouth with everything I’ve got, trying to ignore that damn fluttering.

It’s not enough, though. Even as unsettled as I am, the anger still courses through my blood. The white hot rage burrows deep, trying to splinter my bones from the inside out. With an animalistic growl, I pull out of Cade’s mouth and haul him to his feet, bending him over the window seat. I have his pants unbuttoned and around his ankles in record time.

Cade looks back at me over his shoulder, violet eyes glittering dangerously, as I grab the bottle of lube off the bar. “Do your worst, Prince.” He smirks and kicks off his shoes and pants.

The words incite me, just as he intended them to. I press on the back of his neck and shove his head down. Anticipation swirls through me as I kick his legs wider and run a finger down his crack to his hole. Cade tenses as I press my finger inside, quickly followed by another. A breath rushes out of him and he hangs his head down, relaxing into my touch.

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