Page 91 of Claim of Blood
A low growl vibrated through the room. Lander tensed as Adam, without preamble, freed his cock from tailored slacks and reached for Leo’s waistband. Leo’s breath caught. His hands rose instinctively to Adam’s, perhaps to slow him—but he didn’t resist. With practiced ease, Adam shoved Leo’s pants down mid-thigh and hauled him onto his cock in one smooth motion.
Leo gasped, the sound edged with shock and arousal, his face burying against Adam’s shoulder. He flushed deep, clearly mortified by how exposed he was—but didn’t move to stop it.
Heat flared across Lander’s face. His own cock strained against the denim. In front of his parents, no less. He shifted awkwardly, trying for discretion—and failing, if his father’s smirk was anything to go by.
Adam settled Leo more firmly in his lap, hips snug, hands gripping the hunter’s waist. “Thank you,” he said, voice cool, “for understanding.”
“Oh, of course,” Elisabeth replied brightly. “The possessive instinct during the early years is perfectly natural.”
“Couldn’t keep myself out of Elisabeth for the first century,” Johan added fondly.
“Father,” Lander groaned, scrubbing both hands over his face.
Leo, now fully seated on Adam, was visibly trembling. His fingers clutched Adam’s thighs, knuckles white as he tried to stay still and composed.
Adam’s voice dropped an octave. “How long does this level of... need typically last?”
Lander leaned forward slightly, more drawn by Leo’s struggle to maintain composure than by the question.
“Actually,” Elisabeth said, nestling against Johan with casual intimacy, “we don’t know. Until you, we were the oldest generation to experience a perfect match. Andreas and his shifter were fourth generation, possibly fifth. But you,” She gestured at Adam, still balls-deep in Leo, “are something else entirely. Your age, your power... it changes things.”
“How many perfect matches have there been?” Lander asked quickly, needing a distraction from the heat pooling low in his gut.
“Not many,” Johan said, brushing his thumb along Elisabeth’s arm. “We’re not like shifters with their fated mates. They breed often and eagerly. Vampires can turn others, yes—but true children? You’re the fourth vampire child ever born.”
“And all to perfectly compatible pairs,” Elisabeth added warmly, gaze resting on Lander. “It appears to be a requirement for conception.”
Lander blinked. “That... actually makes a disturbing amount of sense. Too many vampires turning others, not enough humans to feed them—it’d spiral quickly. Maybe it’s a kind of magical population control.”
“Perhaps,” Elisabeth mused. “Though it feels more... purposeful than that.” She glanced between Adam and Leo. “And potent. Wouldn’t you agree?”
Leo’s blush deepened. He shifted slightly on Adam’s cock, trying to adjust. A growl from Adam froze him in place, and he stilled, trembling.
Adam’s expression turned distant, thoughtful. “I knew Merytre well,” he said, one hand now idly stroking Leo’s length. “The Mother. We spoke often about her spells—her intentions.I was there at the beginning. There was nothing in her original work that should’ve created this. No mention of compatibility. Of claiming.” His grip on Leo tightened. “Nothing like this.”
Lander tilted his head. “There are rumors,” he said carefully. “That magic isn’t just a force. That it... learns. Watches. Decides.”
Adam’s gaze sharpened. His hand continued its slow, deliberate work on Leo’s cock, drawing muffled whimpers from the hunter.
“You’re asking if I believe magic is alive?”
Lander met his eyes. “Do you?”
Silence stretched. Leo was shaking in Adam’s lap, body trembling as Adam’s hand continued its careful strokes. But Adam’s voice, when it came, was calm. Measured.
“Yes,” he said at last. “I believe it has will. Understanding. That it chooses. Why, or how—I’ve no idea. Five thousand years, and I still don’t understand it. But yes... magic evolves.”
Elisabeth nodded knowingly. “Magic learns. Adapts. Perhaps it saw what vampires needed to survive and... adjusted.”
Leo’s soft gasp filled the silence. His body shuddered as Adam’s grip on his cock grew more purposeful. The discussion faded from Adam’s attention as he zeroed in on the trembling hunter in his lap. His movements, once idle, had shifted into something far more possessive.
The idea consumed Lander. Magic as a living force. Watching. Listening. Choosing. He stared openly now—at Leo, at the way his head tipped back, lips parted, soft sounds falling from his mouth like prayer. Adam’s focus had narrowed entirely to him, drawing those noises with surgical precision.
What else might magic change if it decided to? What new rules might it write, unannounced and unexplainable?
“Lander?” Elisabeth’s voice snapped him out of his spiral. “Are you even listening?”
Heat surged up his neck. He blinked and straightened, catching Leo mid-whimper. “Sorry, Mother. Just... thinking.”
