Page 18 of Heart of Glass

While he felt slightly unnerved, the belief in the strange, unusual, and unexplainable came with the territory of being an author. “I’m not afraid.” While he couldn’t explain it, and maybe it proved his naivety, the absolute conviction that Xeno would never harm him penetrated Lachlan down to his soul.

“I’d never hurt you.”

“I know.” In actuality, he couldn’t know that, but hefeltit,believedit with unshakable certainty—maybe because Xeno looked anxious enough for both of them.

Extracting his fingers from Lachlan’s channel, Xeno poured a generous amount of lube into his palm and stroked his cock with a shaking hand before lining up the crown with Lachlan’s entrance. “Deep breath, sweetheart.”

The unearthly glow of his eyes intensified as he snapped his hips forward, plunging into Lachlan’s depths with a feral growl. As Lachlan’s inner walls stretched to accommodate the massive girth, the aching burn made his eyes water, but he couldn’t blink away the moisture, couldn’t look away from Xeno’s hypnotic gaze.

The world faded away, leaving only the two of them wrapped in a haze of desire, and as Xeno increased his pace, tiny explosions ricocheted throughout Lachlan’s body. The slap of skin against bare, slick skin echoed around the room, mingling with their grunts and groans, and each bone-jarring thrust drove Lachlan closer to the edge of oblivion.

“Please, please, I need…” Unsure of what he needed, Lachlan trailed off, whipping his head back and forth on the pillow as he thrashed against the bed.

Without warning, Xeno scooped Lachlan into his arms, pulling him into his lap and pressing their sweat-dampened chests together. A string of mumbled words in a language Lachlan didn’t recognize fell from Xeno’s lips. While he didn’t know the literal translation, he instinctively understood the promise in the reverent tone.

“Please forgive me.” Fisting one hand in Lachlan’s hair and jerking his head back on his shoulders, Xeno struck hard, piercing the skin on Lachlan’s neck with his wickedly sharp fangs.

With a full-body shiver, he released a torrent of hot semen that splashed against Lachlan’s inner walls and flooded his convulsing channel. The sting of pain in his neck, coupled with the friction against his aching cock, sent Lachlan careening headlong toward orgasm. Yelling Xeno’s name to the ceiling, he clutched at his shoulders as he erupted, emptying a river of pearly cream into the minimal space between them.

Covered in sweat, cum, and a small trickle of blood on his neck, Lachlan slumped back to the mattress and closed his eyes while his chest continued to heave. Caught up in the moment, selfishly desiring the pleasure Xeno could bring him, he hadn’t tried too hard to make sense of what he’d seen. Now, however, without the distraction of the man’s dick in his ass, he couldn’tnotthink about the glowing eyes and the extended canines.

Flipping his eyelids open when Xeno stretched out beside him, Lachlan turned to look at him and frowned. He appeared ridiculously normal. No sharp teeth or eerie eyes, and he even smiled that usual, cocky smirk of his. For a fleeting moment, Lachlan feared he’d cracked under the recent stress and hallucinated it all. Thankfully—or disturbingly—the ache in his neck proved otherwise.

Chapter seven

“You bit me.”

“My eyes lit up like Roman candles and I grew fangs like something out of a Wes Craven movie, but you’re focused on the fact that I bit you?”

“Well, yeah, that’s the only part that affected me.” Good thing the man was cute, because he could certainly be dense sometimes. “It’s going to scar, isn’t it?”

“It’s a mating mark,” Xeno answered somewhat tenuously, as though he feared Lachlan would dissolve into a meltdown at any moment. “It’s supposed to be visible. It says you’re mine.”

“I’m yours? Like a candy bar or a piece of furniture?”

“What? Wait. No, that’s not what I meant. Stop putting words in my mouth.”

With the media shoving romanticized versions of werewolves, vampires, and the like down everyone’s throats, society had become desensitized to the fantastical and once unbelievable. This played only a small part in Lachlan’s easy belief. Ever since he’d been a small boy, he’d believed there were things in the world that couldn’t be explained. Aliens, paranormal creatures, and supernatural beings—all legends had some basis in truth, and he wasn’t so arrogant to think humans were the only intelligent beings in the world or the universe.

If he’d met Xeno in a dark alley with the guy on full beast mode, he may have had a much different reaction. If Xeno wanted to hurt him, though, he already would have. Lachlan believed, he’d always believed, but he needed to understand.

“What are you?”

“How are you taking this so well? Why aren’t you curled up in the corner screaming or sucking your thumb?”

“Nope.” He tapped the end of Xeno’s nose and shook his head. “I asked you first.”

“Lykós. We’re an ancient breed of—”

“Werewolf,” Lachlan inserted with a nod. “I’ve read about the legends. You’re a dreamwalker, right?”

Xeno fidgeted with a loose string on the pillow case and wouldn’t look at him. “Yeah, that’s right.” With a huff and a creased brow, he ceased toying with the string and looked at Lachlan. “Are you sure you’re okay with all of this? I had envisioned this conversation going much differently.”

“Well, it might have been nice if you’d told me before you were balls deep in my ass, but lucky for you, I’ve always been a believer.” Instead of being frightened like any normal person would probably be, Lachlan only felt excitement. It was like knowing the secrets to the universe but being unable to prove them—until now. “I’m hoping the rumors about you being immune to diseases are true.” The first inkling of anxiety tightened his chest. He’d never been so stupid, so wrapped up in someone that he forgot to use a condom.

“Relax,” Xeno cooed. “You’re perfectly safe with me. I’d never risk your wellbeing for anything.”

“Okay.” Sucking his bottom lip between his teeth, Lachlan chewed on the flesh for a few seconds, deciding if he should take Xeno at his word. While the guy withheld some fairly vital information about himself, he had no reason to lie. “Okay,” he repeated. “Good.”

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