He drew the top half of his body off Mark as the pace and intensity of his thrusts grew. Mark cried out, so far away from the pain and into the pleasure end of the equation, he was certain he would fall apart any second.
Caster groaned his pleasure, and pleas tumbled past Mark’s lips as he struggled to hold on.
The hand on the back of his head was new. The pressure it exerted was only one of the myriad sensations he experienced. He had to focus on one thing, or he would disappoint his dominant. He chose the fullness of Caster’s cock inside him and regretted that choice when Caster angled his latest thrust to hit the right spot.
His pleas joined the constant jiggle of his restraints, intensifying the pleasure that was too close, but still out of reach. The hand at the back of his head tightened as the even rhythm of Caster’s thrusts grew more erratic.
He pulled out of him almost all the way, slammed back in with so much force Mark’s body rattled in its confines, and pressed his body into Mark’s. “Come. Now!”
Every cell responded to the command, like dominoes falling in quick succession, each one tearing a path of pleasure through his body as he touched and then crossed that line for the first time in a decade. Pleasure overtook pain in all its forms, flooding his system. He moaned through the experience, his body shuddering through it for what felt like an eternity. Then he sighed as every muscle reveled in the pleasure hormones, as his body went limp with total relaxation. He tried to crash to the floor in a heap, but the restraints held him in place.
He had a second to process the experience before his torn heart, the constant companion he’d carried with him for over a decade, imposed itself. He wouldn’t have restrained the broken sobs if he’d wanted to. They tore out of his battered heart, the dam around his grief broken beyond repair.
The sensation of another body, a hard male body holding him, reached his mind, but all he felt was the pain, a different kind of pain, the kind he’d held back for so long. Soothing words crisscrossed the pain, but they only increased its intensity. He held on to Caster, all too aware he wasn’t Zeke, but too tired of facing all this alone to care. He didn’t remember how they got to the bed or how he ended up sobbing into Caster’s neck. The real sound of his heartbreak filled the room as his sobs reduced his breathing to a few choked gasps. His wolf’s mirroring painful howl filled the space in his mind, bringing with it a foreign painthat dragged him further into the oblivion he couldn’t hope to resist.
Alow whine startled his tired, sore body into wakefulness. His heavy eyes adjusted to the light, and the memory of the pain he’d experienced a few hours earlier dissipated into a rush of calm. A second whine filled the space in his mind, and Mark sat up so fast, the bed shook. His wolf. He reached for the barrier that kept the animal at bay and moaned when a rush of healing hormones flooded his system, taking away every ounce of pain and reinvigorating his body with an energy he had missed.
Tears filled his eyes as he reveled in the connection with the long-lost part of him. He closed his eyes, grasping the connection with everything in him. His canines tingled, the nailbeds of all fingers and toes tightened as the animal in him made his presence known. Unable to hold back, Mark allowed the tears to flow. His wolf was back, its low growl filling the foreign room.
“You can’t transform. Not here.”
He opened his eyes to see Caster leaning against the door, studying him, his expression guarded, a warning in the way his muscles seemed coiled for action.
In his haste to welcome his animal self back, he’d almost forgotten where he was. He sniffed back fresh tears, all too aware of the weakness he’d displayed.
Caster started to move toward him, but stopped when Mark jumped off the bed. He was aware of his nudity, of Caster’s momentary perusal of his naked form, and of his body coming alive in response.
His wolf’s approval of the man who’d brought him such sweet pain a few hours ago was not lost on him. But his wolf was the baser side of him. Mark had needed last night. That was it. Nothing more could happen here. Caster was still the Crown Prince of Vampires, and if he allowed himself to forget their role in his pain, his vengeance would be incomplete.
“How did you get here last night?”
Caster’s voice penetrated his latest attempt to soak in the power his wolf’s presence brought, and it took a second to understand what he asked.
He took a breath to stifle his wolf’s insistence for a transformation and turned to Caster, covering his nakedness in quick movements. “I can get back to the house. I don’t need youto—”
Caster shook his head. “Not like that.”
He frowned, struggling to button his shirt as fast as the small buttons would allow. He wanted to be as far away from Caster as he could get. It was the only way he could stifle this need to rush right back into his arms. It was his wolf’s need, but his human self wasn’t too far behind.
Caster took a few steps closer to him, and it took every ounce of strength to stand his ground. “Take control of your wolf. I can feel it, and I don’t want to have to explain a giant animal in here.”
“I am in control.”
Caster nodded toward his hand.
The bones twisted and groaned with the partial transformation. In his haste to get away from him, Mark had lost control of the animal. It had been so long since it made an appearance that he’d forgotten the telltale signs. He ignored Caster’s determined expression and took a breath, closing his eyes to reach past the barrier in his mind and beg his wolf to stay calm.
A rush of warmth flooded that shared space at his wolf’s understanding, and he sighed when the transformation stopped. Before the witch, he’d been so in sync with his animal, he could transform faster and with greater ease. He had better control of the transformation than anyone, even Dean. Now, he was unsure he could turn back if he let the wolf out.
“Good.”
The pride at the single word of praise from Caster’s lipsmade him want to vomit. He tried to push past Caster, resolving to stay away from him, but Caster grabbed his arm in a tight hold, halting all movement. He tried to shake it off, but the vampire was much stronger.
“Stop.”
He moved into Caster’s space, their faces only inches apart. “Just because I let you fuck me last night doesn’t mean that you own me. I am not yours to command.”
A flash of something he couldn’t name crossed Caster’s face, but it was gone too soon for him to decipher it. The grip on his arm tightened enough to bring back memories of the delicious pain they’d shared, but then it was gone. “Believe me, that’s the last thing I want.” He pushed past Mark’s shoulder towards the door. “The car is waiting to take us back to the compound.”