Blood Claim by Laura Mykles (free e books to read .txt) 📕

"Are you sure? Given what I am?"

"I'm sure. After everything I've found out about you, I can't believe you aren't sincere in wanting to help me. I'd like to get to know you."

"I would like that."

"Just dating,” Matt hastened to add, frowning at his fingernail. “I ... I don't think I'm afraid of you, but I'd like to take some time before we ... y'know, get back to the sex."

Wolfe's hand closed over Matt's on the back of the couch, his skin pale and cool in contrast to Matt's new tan. “I think that's a fine plan."

Matt curled his hand around so he could weave his fingers with Wolfe's. Only then did he turn to meet that emerald gaze again. “You're okay with waiting?"

Wolfe's smile was gentle and unbearably sexy. Or did the sexy part come from those lambent eyes with impossibly long, sooty lashes? “I'll wait for as long as you need."

* * * *

Matthew sat at the wind-worn picnic table, enjoying the heat of the fading sunshine as the breeze from the waves below whipped some of his hair from the ponytail at the back of his neck. This park at the top of a cliff was one of the places he and Daniel had enjoyed visiting, a beautiful setting not too far from school or home.

Daniel's empty urn sat on the table beside him, his ashes having been cast to the sea about fifteen minutes ago. Matt was pretty sure he'd approve. He'd had a thing for dolphins and would get a kick out of joining them for his final resting place.

Crossing his arms on the table, Matt cleared his brain of all but idle thoughts as he watched the glowing orange sun sink through pink and purple clouds until it finally fizzled and gave up that flash of green as it disappeared within the ocean. Beautiful. He couldn't have asked for a lovelier sight for his last day of life.

Smiling, he stood and gathered the empty urn. He took it with him back to his Jeep, tucking it on the floor in the backseat beside the duffle bag. Whistling, he swung into the driver's seat and buckled in. He made an attempt at taming his ponytail before starting up the Jeep to head for his new home. His new life.

Actually, his death.

That still made him chuckle.

Night had taken hold before he reached Wolfe's house in the hills. The house itself wasn't very impressive-looking. Nice, but rather ordinary. Kind of secluded on six acres of tree-filled land in a neighborhood of similar plots. It looked quaint from the outside. People wouldn't know that a whole secret suite of rooms was dug into the hill underneath it.

Matt parked his Jeep right next to Wolfe's Lexus. He had gotten to know Wolfe's place well over the last year. So much so that the duffle in his backseat was all that had been left to bring from his apartment.

The porch light flickered on as he stepped up to the door. Fitting his key into the lock, he crossed into the entryway and the rectangle of light on the floor from the kitchen doorway to his right. “Wolfe?"

No answer—but he hadn't really expected one. Even though he was surely awake, Wolfe didn't tend to emerge from the bedroom downstairs without a good reason. Tonight he had good reason to stay put.

Grinning at the thought, Matt turned away from the kitchen and took the hallway to the back room. He didn't need light, but he turned on the lamp in the unused “office” anyway. Wolfe had plenty of protection around the place, both mystical and electrical, but they tended to keep the lamps on in a few rooms anyway so the house looked somewhat lived in.

He went to the closet and stepped up to the hidden entry at the back wall. The panel opened, and dim runway lights illuminated the narrow staircase that took him down to Wolfe's real home. The rooms above were furnished and perfectly functional—Wolfe was careful to keep them so—but they were no comparison to the suite below. It consisted of a bedroom, a “play” room, Wolfe's real office, and a bathroom. The square footage of those four rooms was more than that of the two-bedroom house above.

Wolfe was not in the play room with its state-of-the-art entertainment center and pool table, but Matt hadn't expected to find him there. He dumped his bag on the long sectional couch and continued toward the bedroom.

It was everything a vampire's bedroom should be, in Matt's humble opinion, and it was decked out tonight. Black, from the furniture, to the gauzy canopy, to the silk sheets. Hints of blue, purple, and red could be seen here and there, but the room was predominantly black. A fitting contrast to the pale skin of the man himself. The man who lay waiting for Matt in the center of an absurdly huge bed. Candles were lit, making Wolfe seem to glow as he sat up, watching Matt. Hair as silky and dark as the sheets around him fell across his shoulders and chest.

"Everything went well?"

Matt smiled, still admiring the decadent beauty of his lover. One year they'd been together. One year Wolfe had made him wait before he would even consider giving Matt the chance to be with him forever. But that year was up tonight. Tonight, Wolfe was his.

"Everything went fine.” Matt grabbed the hem of his T-shirt and pulled it up and off. “I gave back my keys and everything.” He tossed the shirt aside and grabbed onto one of the sturdy posts at the foot of the bed to steady himself as he took off his shoes.

"And Daniel?” Wolfe asked softly.

Warmth flooded Matt's chest. Not once, in all their time together, had Wolfe been anything but respectful of Matt's memory of Daniel. Too many former lovers in his own life, he'd said, for him to dismiss the feelings. He knew