Page 37 of Blood of the Damned: Thorn
“That he does,” Thorn agreed, relaxing in his seat, templing his fingers under his chin. “So what choices has he picked to serve with the appetizers?”
By the end of the day, Thorn realized he’d not achieved anything other than wedding preparations. It was a short-term thing, he told himself, to ease a little of the guilt at the added pressure it would put on everyone else.
He dragged off his tie as he walked up the stairs in the main house, listening out for any signs his brothers were at home. His thoughts went to his mate and how he’d like to spend the rest of his evening—naked.
In their suite of rooms, the silence had him frowning as he entered the living room. He roamed through the rooms, leavinghis tie draped on a chair and his suit jacket on the bed, before strolling into the bathroom. The frown deepened.
He took a detour to the room that would be the girl's nursery. The cribs sat in the middle of the room on plastic sheeting and there was a tin of varnish with paint brushes next to it. He grinned at the gleaming wood on the one closest to him. He resisted running his fingers over the wood with how fresh the varnish smelt.
The need to find Ledger had him spin around and retrace his steps, opening his senses as he went, searching for where Ledger was.
It didn’t take long to find him and Thorn’s lips curled into a warm smile at the sleeping man curled up in a swing seat that Ledger had found just three days before, while searching through the basement. He had one hand tucked under his cheek and the other lay protectively over his stomach. It was a habit he’d developed as the girls grew inside him.
Thorn felt Ledger’s exhaustion. Had he been doing too much?
He sighed at the obvious answer. Since Calvert had mentioned how much stuff they had down in the basement in passing, Ledger had been interested enough to drag Thorn down there with him. They had spent hours and hours, when not working, opening boxes, revealing Thorn’s and his brothers' past.
Whilst down there, they’d found Dacian and Calvert’s hand crafted cradles. These were now up in their suite. Ledger was eager to have a connection to family traditions, and it hurt Thorn’s heart at the reasons for it. There had been no mention of Ledger’s family regarding the wedding. Ledger had invited friends, but overall, the numbers were small because Thorn had been mindful of questions some would ask at the lack of family on Ledger’s side. Upsetting his mate was the last thing he wanted.
Thorn’s sister was traveling, so he had declared she should continue on with her plans. They would have a party to celebrate the birth of the girls on her return, which had placated her.
Ledger had clearly been too eager to wait for him to clean up the cribs, as he’d promised. His mate was pushing too hard and not considering he was carrying twins.
Thorn let out a heartfelt sigh as he walked closer to stroke the hair off Ledger’s forehead. He didn’t stir and Thorn eyed the big cushions that ledger had added to the seat. It had been love at first sight of the old-fashioned swing, which Ledger had gotten Thorn to carry out into the family walled garden where they planned to be married.
Clearly the thing wasn’t as comfortable as Ledger had hoped, despite Thorn’s warning that the thing had never been truly comfortable to sit on. It seemed the added cushions made all the difference with how soundly Ledger was sleeping.
Thorn resisted touching again and stood watching over Ledger for many minutes as the sun lowered in the sky and cast shadows over the wildflowers in the garden. The sweet perfume didn’t overpower the scent of his mate, which tickled and teased his nose.
It had changed, become spicier, and it caused a fever in Thorn’s blood that persisted even in his absence. Yet he pushed his twitching fingers into his slacks, not wanting to wake his mate and act on the arousal he felt strengthened the longer he stared at the sleeping man. The picture Ledger made while sleeping was exquisite. Thorn believed he could not conjure a picture that was more idyllic than that of the one he was looking at.
He wasn’t sure how long he remained there before Ledger stirred. The fan of his eyelashes fluttered over his cheekbones before his eyes opened. A lazy smile spread over his lips as he blinked sleepily at Thorn.
“I was dreaming of you,” he murmured, “and here you are.”
Moving before he could fully register his intention, Thorn was on his knees, kissing Ledger, the desire and confession undoing him.
A lingering sweetness as Ledger’s lips parted and their tongues stroked against each other suggested he’d had ice cream before he’d fallen asleep. His hands crept around Thorn’s neck and he moaned as he deepened the kiss. The urgency grew so fast, Ledger’s chest heaved when Thorn eased away, knowing if he carried on, he’d cause a show for anyone who looked out a window at the back of the house.
“Want you,” Ledger whined, tugging him closer impatiently.
“Let’s go inside, Sweetling.” Thorn aimed for firmness. What came out was more begging as he tore his mouth from a pouting Ledger. If at all possible, his heart twisted in his chest at denying his dhampir. “Then you can have me any way you want.”
The pout disappeared as Ledger nudged him back and wiggled past him. “I want you, naked and fully vampire.”
Thorn squeezed his thighs together as he stood, attempting to conceal his rapidly hardening cock. He pushed at the arousal tenting his slacks, trying to make it possible to walk after the pert behind disappearing into the house.
Naked. I want you naked, now!Bossy Ledger didn’t help his problem.
Thorn pulled his zipper down and tugged out his cock so he could race after Ledger.
In a blur, he flew past Dacian, who called out, “my eyes, my poor eyes,” as Ledger giggled at the top of the stairs.
With a show of strength that got Ledger cooing in delight, Thorn picked him up as he flew past and was inside their suite, the door closed, a second later.
“You think it’s funny to taunt the beast?” Thorn growled playfully at Ledger’s increased giggles.
Arms clinging to his neck, he gave Thorn a smacking lipped kiss. “I do when it’s my beast, now where’s my winged lover?”
