Page 33 of The Tenor's Shadow

“I promise.” Anthony’s breath hitched, and a tremor shook him. Freddie thrilled at the effect he was having.

Freddie looked down at Anthony, at his angelic face and his pale, bare neck. He was perfect.

“When I push into you, you’ll be fuller than you ever have been in your entire life.”

Freddie checked the nearby rows one last time. Nobody was looking. He let his fangs drop.

It was dangerous to do this here, where someone might see. And it was dangerous because the demon was straining inside Freddie, wanting more, so much more, clamoring to claim Anthony. But Freddie knew he could never hurt him.

Gently, so gently, he bit into Anthony’s neck, barely puncturing the skin, not deep enough to reach a blood vessel. Anthony’s whole body spasmed. Freddie clamped his hand down on Anthony’s mouth, preventing his cry from escaping. Anthony trembled, and Freddie held him tight against himself.

The tremors slowed, subsiding into gentle twitches as the orgasm finished. Freddie removed his hand, stroking Anthony’s face.

“God, I think I just…” Anthony whispered.

Freddie hummed affirmatively. Anthony’s spent form rested against his chest and stomach. He was overwhelmed and floating in the afterglow. Freddie licked his thumb and rubbed it over the bite mark. The saliva would close up the shallow puncture wound, and in a few minutes, it would be nothing more than a fading red spot.

A single drop of blood had been left behind on Freddie’s thumb. He couldn’t help himself. He sucked it off his own skin.

The flavor of it exploded his senses, growing from an intense tingle on his tongue to a burst of electricity running through his whole body. His vision went white.

What was happening to him? Nothing had ever had that effect before. He’d heard of such a thing once, from a vampire who’d fed from his mate. Could that be what that was? Could Anthony be his?

Freddie squashed the conjecture. He was too old, too hidebound, too violent to have a mate. The universe would never give him such a gift.

“What did you do to me?” Anthony’s question came out in a broken whisper, forcing Freddie back into the real world. “That was…I’ve never felt anything like it.”

Freddie couldn’t speak. Instead, he stroked Anthony’s hair and luxuriated in the sensation of Anthony’s body pressed against him.

Eventually, Anthony fell asleep. Freddie sat there, listening to Anthony’s slow, even breathing, and already second-guessing himself. Anthony didn’t know he was a vampire. He was getting in too deep, and it was with the coven master’s nephew. With a human. This was going to hurt.

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