Page 18 of Roman

Danny took a moment to relish the feel of the vampire’s embrace. He would have thought vampires were cold, but Roman’s body gave off a delicious heat. “Um…,” Danny mumbled into Roman’s chest. “I didn’t mean to sleep-accost you.”

“It was not unwelcome.” There was a hint of laughter in Roman’s voice.

Well, there’s a ringing endorsement. “I’m serious. I didn’t realize I was such a cuddler. I would’ve warned a guy.”

“I would have done the same from the beginning had I known it would be acceptable.”

That was surprising. “You would have…cuddled me?”

Danny felt Roman rub his stubbled cheek against the top of his head, like he was some kind of big cat. He hummed into Danny’s hair. “I would have touched you, held you—yes.”

That thought took a moment to process in Danny’s brain. He blinked at the incongruity of his fierce vampire-demon protector wanting to play big spoon, little spoon with him. “Oh. And you don’t mind…um…you know…?”

Roman chuckled softly. “I don’tknow, but if you mean this“—he rubbed his hip against Danny’s hard cock, causing heat to spread from Danny’s groin through his whole body—”I do not.”

Oh my Lord.Danny buried his face into Roman’s chest, cheeks flushed with embarrassment and…other things.

That deep, smooth voice sounded even more amused, if a little husky. “You might even have noticed I’m in the same predicament.”

He said what now?

And then Danny did feel, against the leg he currently had draped over Roman’s midsection—Jesus, he really had engulfed the man—that the vampire had his own little situation going on.

Except…not little. At all. A big situation. A big, hard situation. A big, hard situation that Danny would very much like to—ahem—handle for him.

Danny hadn’t even realized he’d started squirming against Roman again until he felt a large, firm hand on his lower back. “Settle, lovely boy. My restraint is stretched thin as it is.”

Danny stilled instantly. What in the goddamn goodness was wrong with him right now? He felt the need to clarify. “I’m not…usually like this. Definitely not with men I’ve just met. Definitely,definitelynot with vampires I’ve just met.”

That soft chuckle again, which Danny felt more than heard. “Neither am I.”

Danny lifted his head to narrow his eyes at his bedmate. “You’re telling me that you—looking like you do—don’t have many casual hookups? One-night stands? Rolls in the hay?”

Danny doubted it. Majorly.

“And how do I look to you?” The damned vampire was smirking at him now, looking a trifle too smug for his own good.

Danny just raised an eyebrow.

Roman’s face turned serious. “I have had countless one-night stands, lovely Danny. Never do they actually last the night. Never do I hold someone until morning.”

Danny wasn’t sure whether to be horrified by that “countless“ or warmed to the bone by the rest of it.

So he decided to change the subject.

“So you were right. You didn’t burst into flames with the dawn or anything.”

Roman’s smirk was back. “How perceptive you are.”

Danny had a million questions and barely knew where to start. “So why is that a myth then? What started all those nasty ‘daylight equals death’ rumors?”

Roman hummed a little, seeming to gather his thoughts. “Our demons dopreferthe night, it is true. We seem to be more or less nocturnal by nature. It has always made sense to me, seeing as how many of our…predilections…are more conducive to the dark.”

That added up. “You mean chomping on people’s necks?”

Roman huffed a laugh. “The biting, yes. But also more than that.” He pressed his erection up into Danny again, sending a pool of warmth into Danny’s stomach. “Blood and sex, Danny. That is what our demons crave. WhatIcrave.”

Well, holy shit. That should not be so hot. That should be terrifying, not arousing. Danny forced himself to focus. He felt they were building to something, clinging to each other the way they were, but no jumping the vampire’s bones until he had some more answers.

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