Page 74 of How to Bare Your Neck and Save a Wreck
And Shane screamed. He did come, this time in a flash of heaven, searing through him like a final flood of bliss before the shut-off switch. It left a single tremble in its wake, his muscles slack and even his bones somehow empty, like every store had been spent, nothing left of him but exhaustion and a subtle contentment.
He only really felt Andres pull out of him by the lack it left, then the gentle nudge of his vampire’s hands as he was directed free of the position. He curled onto his side, wanting nothing more than to look at Andres, to memorize every line of his vampire’s satisfaction. Even in his post-coital state though, Andres hadn’t stopped caring for Shane, carefully beginning to clean, pausing every few moments to kiss Shane’s head or caress his back or whisper something sweet to him.
“I’m sorry; I feel like I got far more out of that,” Shane finally said, as his vampire slipped back into the gorgeous floral underwear Shane bet he’d made himself.
“Likeyougot far more?!” Andres laughed, stroking Shane’s hair. “Ah, pet—Shane,” he added, not like a correction, but an emphasis. “You just let me—” His voice broke with emotion and he cleared his throat, though the great depth of affection and awe remained. “What you let me do to you was perfect. You are perfect. And you made me feel like—like I’m all right. Like who I am isgood.”
Shane reached for Andres, slow and obvious, sliding the backs of his fingers up his vampire’s neck and caressing his cheek. “Youaregood, Andres. And you’re magnificent, too.”
“Well.” Andres laughed, soft and wet, but his smile shone. “How about I start you a bath? You must be sore?”
“My clit feels fucking raw,” Shane grumbled, but at the fear that crossed his vampire’s face, he added, “I love it—it means you’ll pamper me. And check my glucose.” He lifted a brow. “Youwill, right?”
“For the rest of your life,” Andres replied, and it didn’t seem like a fiction or a stretch or a compensation or even an obsession. It felt like them.
26
SHANE
Shane held Andres to his word, making time throughout the week for his vampire to push him to his limits and pamper him senseless, but the closer they got to Saturday, the more their attention was—reasonably—redirected toward the upcoming gala.
Between Andres’s confidence and Shane’s legitimate ChatterDash celebrity and fashion media pass, getting them both into the pseudo Met Gala as journalists turned out to be easy. Shane didn’t even feel bad that he planned to ignore the fluff article he was meant to be writing—he’d done enough of those that he could scrounge something together later. Their mission tonight was solelyOperation Dr. Blood’s Office. Though if he ever did aRates Thingsvideo of his criminal activities, that title would be getting zero stars for a complete lack of originality.
At least they’d decided against any attempts to infiltrate the secret basement laboratory. With the sheer amount of security Vitalis-Barron had in position, Andres barely managed to slip them both unseen into the lobby bathroom to change from their standard media outfits into the more flamboyant ones they needed to pretend they were Vitalis-Barron guests.
Shane shoved his button-up and jeans into their bag, and slipped on his outfit with ease, the simple zip along the sideholding all the majestic wrapping and overlapping folds into place. Andres had taken inspiration from the costume Shane had worn when they’d first met, but this version bore no resemblance to the hastily donned shawl and mask, the shimmering white one-piece a combination of a half-cloak and a robe and something out of pure imagination, the fabric flaring and folding in on itself in tiers. He’d worn it in various stages of creation, but as he stared at himself in the bathroom mirror, he couldn’t help turning from side to side, watching the layered fabric swirl. The feathers pinned into his hair fluttered. He caressed the two smaller ones that hung from the center of his silk choker.
Shane had been a shameful imitation of Cygnus back in October, but now he truly was the swan himself, prepared to mourn his reckless lover for all eternity.
Carefully, he turned his choker until the feathers sat against the place Andres preferred to bite him. There. Now it was perfect.
As he waited for his vampire to finish changing, Shane pulled out his phone.
Nat1
Hey friend, what’s up?
You’ve been quiet lately, I hope everything’s okay. /casually worried
Any updates on that vampire stalker of yours?
The messages sank like a weight in Shane’s gut. Hehadbeen more quiet than usual, in part because he’d been busy, but just as much because he couldn’t figure out how to tell her that the vampire stalker she’d been so certain he should get rid of was now his partner. He could give hersomethingthough.
Shane-anigans
Sorry, life’s been wild (but in a good way, I promise.) I’m actually dating someone? I was waiting to tell you until we made it official, so ta-da, I have a partner now! (And yes, he makes me very happy.)
Nat1
Oh. My. God. No way????!! I’m so excited for you!!
But now you have to tell me everything!
What’s he like? How’d you meet? Have you fucked? (How big is his dick. /joking but not )
(Tho I guess I shouldn’t assume he *has* a dick at all. It just sounded more slutty than “how big is his preferred organ of penetration.”)
She sent a little trans flag with an eggplant emoji afterward. God, Shane had missed her.
