Page 36 of Feral
“Not at all. Someone else here.”
“Interesting.”
“It is.” I notice Yannis leaning on the bar to collect his next drink order. “Let me introduce you to someone.”
“Cool.”
We approach and Yannis turns around. I tense for a moment, highly aware of how gorgeous Thorn is and how much attention he attracts, but Yannis’s gaze settles on me.
“Yannis, this is one of my Orpheus brothers, Thorn. Thorn, our newest employee, Yannis.”
“Cool name,” Thorn says.
“Same to you.”
Thorn sniffs the air. “Mortal. Are you enjoying yourself?”
“It’s been an experience.”
“He kneed Henri in the balls earlier,” I say with a hint of pride in my voice.
Thorn huffs. “That douche. What did he do?”
“He got grabby with me.”
“Pretty brave, inciting violence with a vampire,” Thorn says. “I like it.”
Yannis grins and shrugs. “He crossed a line. I won’t do that again though.”
“Probably wise.” Thorn leans in. “But don’t lose your fire.”
“Thanks.” He grabs his drinks. “Better get these delivered. Nice to meet you, Thorn.”
“You too.”
Once Yannis walks away, I turn to Thorn, who’s staring at me with a huge grin on his face.
“Yes?”
“You like him. Finally someone caught your eye.”
Blowing out a breath, I nod, no longer interested in trying to play it cool. “I do. He doesn’t date men and he doesn’t know what I am. Tiny problems to overcome.”
Thorn glances in his direction. “Eh, I wouldn’t worry about either. As soon as he saw you his pulse increased in a good way. I’m no psychic, but I’d say he likes you too.”
“I’ve had that sense too. I’m a little worried about asserting myself and offending him. I don’t want him to leave.”
Thorn puts his hand on my chest “Dude. You need to ditch the reserve and follow your feral little heart. You’ve been locked inside this make-believe cage for too long. I’d tell you life is short, but for us, it’s the opposite. It’s long as fuck and having someone to love makes each day exciting again. My advice? Don’t hold back. If he’s new to liking men, he probably needs a little nudge from you.”
My brow creases as I consider his words.
“You know how it feels to stalk your prey, right?” Thorn asks. “To drop down in front of them and tear their throat out as their blood coats your tongue?”
“Of course.”
“I’ve seen you hunt. There’s a beast inside of you desperate to be let out more often. We can’t always kill to feed our lust, but we can make love. It’s almost as good.”
My body reacts as my mind conjures the image of Yannis naked before me, the miles of soft flesh covering hard muscle on display, waiting for me to indulge. My gums throb and heat spreads through me, making my cock swell.