Roman (Vampire's Mate, #1)

by Grae Bryan

Not just boy, his demon snarled at him. Not just anything. Special. Perfect. Ours. Right.

Roman couldn’t stop pacing. His demon was driving him completely mad. He’d thought the last few years had been bad enough, but they were nothing compared to the intensity of this complete obsession. Want Danny. Honey. Sweet. Ours. Ours, ours, ours.

“There is no less true statement on this Earth than when someone says the words I’m fine.”

Roman looked at the boy—really looked at him. He took in the pale complexion, the dark bruises showing under his eyes, and realized how exhausted the young man must really be. Danny looked tired, not in the way of someone who’d just had a long night, but in the way of someone who had been working too hard for too long with no one to take care of him. And that, Roman decided, just would not do. Ours, his demon rumbled. Ours, he agreed.

Something about the open vulnerability of it all had Roman’s cock hardening. He really was a predator. He wanted to tackle the boy, lick him everywhere, rub his own scent all over Danny’s body. Roman wanted to claim him.

Maybe the boy wasn’t overly trusting and naive; maybe he just knew somewhere inside him already that he belonged to Roman.

And then his demon said what they had both been edging around, voicing it whether Roman was ready for it or not. Mate, it purred. Our mate. Goddamn it.

“And for the record…my demon does not just like you. It craves you. Is obsessed with you. Wants to own you and devour you and never let you go. You would run for the hills if you could hear what it thinks about you. What I think about you.”

There, that was better than touch anyone else and I’ll fucking rip them apart, wasn’t it?

“No buts, little king. I am realizing I have made an error. I have underestimated the trauma you hold. But if you need me to tell you every single day that I am staying, I will tell you. Gladly. Often. Always. That I am yours. Forever, if you will have me.”

“You make me feel loved,” Danny whispered right before sleep overtook him. “You are.” The words were whispered, but Danny could hear them clearly.

“I love you and your dumb vampire face, and I really thought I’d get to tell you that in person.”

“You…love me too?” The hesitance in Danny’s voice was like a knife to Roman’s chest. “Of course I do. My sweet, lovely, selfless little king. I could not ask fate for a better mate. You make me feel truly lucky, for the first time in I do not know how long.”

“I do love you, you know?” “I love you too, Daniel Kingman.”

Soren’s bright voice came on the line. “Are you going to be confessing your undying love for me too?” “Perhaps another time. Everything is all right over there?”

And Roman had faith, for the first time in forever, that he would not die alone, a monster.