With a groan, he exploded, shooting his seed against his stomach, letting it rain over his hand. He hadn’t planned this. It was meant to be a simple flogging session. That he’d gotten so aroused that he hadn’t been able to restrain himself, masturbating in front of the stranger who’d flogged him, hadn’t been part of the plan. He could only blame his ever-growing need for Eddie.

He had to do something to crush it.

14

Thomas closed the door behind him and stepped out into the street. He’d wiped the guy’s memory and had gotten dressed in a hurry. Blood had started crusting over his wounds, but the pain was still fresh. His ass hurt like hell, but it had been worth it. He’d never come so hard and so fast before. He’d only needed a few strokes with his own hand before he’d climaxed. Eddie was the most powerful fantasy he’d ever had.

These days it didn’t take much to get him aroused. One thought of Eddie was enough, and he was as hard as a crowbar. Each evening when he got up, the first thing he did was jump in the shower and masturbate to fantasies of Eddie and him making love. And every day when he went to sleep, he lay in his bed, his hand around his hard-on, imagining Eddie naked in front of him, watching him. And then he imagined Eddie lowering himself onto the bed and burying his head between Thomas’s spread legs, sucking his cock into his mouth. Every day, he fell asleep to that image.

Now he had more details to add to his fantasies: he knew what Eddie’s cock felt like, and how his body moved, how he’d thrust into his hand with such passion, as if he’d meant it. And he knew now how Eddie kissed. How soft his lips felt, how his tongue tasted. He’d felt Eddie shudder in his arms when he’d licked his fangs. It had been the sweetest of victories. But it hadn’t lasted.

Thomas rubbed his chin. He could still feel Eddie’s fist slamming into his face, raw anger shooting from his eyes when he’d come to his senses. He wasn’t gay, Eddie had professed. And he’d only done it to fool the four vampires on their tail.

Bullshit!

There was something else to it. No straight man would kiss another man like this and respond to a hand job with as much enthusiasm as Eddie had if there wasn’t something else going on.

There had to be! He didn’t want to believe that Eddie had simply put on a show. He wanted to hope that there was more between them.

Thomas reached his parked motorcycle and pulled the key from his pocket.

“Did it help?” a male voice asked from behind him.

Thomas swiveled on his heels and stared at the dark figure stepping out from the shadow of the adjacent building. The man was dressed in dark clothes that looked casual yet expensive. His hair was cropped short, his face even and somewhat pale. There was no doubt the man was a vampire—one he’d never seen. Dark power swirled around him, mingling with his aura. It was weak, but it was there nevertheless. He recognized its signature immediately.

But Thomas had no intention of engaging with the vampire who carried Kasper’s blood. “I don’t know what you mean.”

A nonchalant smile played around the stranger’s lips. “Oh, we’ve all tried it, and eventually given in. It doesn’t work. Not for long anyway. The power is stronger. It’ll break through when you least expect it.”

“What do you want?” Thomas barked.

“Wasn’t that evident from my letter? I’m sorry, I didn’t sign it. I’m Xander.”

That the letter had come from him was no surprise. Only one of Kasper’s disciples could have written it. Because only they knew about the dark power that Kasper’s blood had brought to all of them.

Thomas clenched his teeth. “Are you trying to threaten me?”

“On the contrary. I’ve been sent to ask you to join us. You’re one of us, you can’t deny that.”

“I’ll never be one of you!” he cried out, feeling his fangs lengthen.

“You say that now, but once you feel the power grow stronger, you won’t be able to resist.

His blood is strong in you, stronger than in the rest of us. You were one of his first.”

“I destroyed that power. Just like I destroyed Kasper.” Which wasn’t technically the truth— Rose had shot Kasper, or Keegan as he’d called himself then, though Thomas would have killed him had Wesley not interfered in the fight and broken his concentration with a spell of witchcraft. But that was beside the point. He’d effectively brought about Kasper’s death.

“Destroyed Kasper?” Xander asked, a look of confusion on his face. “Not likely.”