To Bite A Bear (2 page)

Harris as if he cared. His inner beast fought to

come out and play.

“Easy, beloved,” Rohan said. “Keep the calm I

love so much.”

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Amber Kell

Love?

Harris wondered how Rohan could toss such

words around. Beloved. Love. Did the vampire

not understand the power of words? That a foolish

bear’s heart might patter a bit faster when

presented with even casually tossed affection.

Harris took long, slow breaths to pull his bear

back under his control. Years of meditation had

kept Harris mellow in the face of true

emergencies. Aden had sent him to a monk years

before to gain the skills needed to find his inner

calm and keep his bear subdued unless needed.

Unfortunately, whenever Rohan touched someone

else, Harris had to wrestle back his inner beast. No

one should touch Rohan or speak to him

unnecessarily or look in his direction.
Yeah, maybe I

do have a bit of an obsession going.

He worried over his reaction to Rohan. When

shifters became possessive, it usually meant they’d

found their mate. Harris didn’t know if he was

ready for that level of commitment. He liked

Rohan, but vampires were different than shifters.

Really different.

“Come on, let’s get you to bed. You’ve had a

long day. This is the part of the ceremony where

people go to mourn alone,” Rohan said. He took

Harris’ arm and led him back into the house, then

up the stairs.

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To Bite a Bear

Harris dug in his heels at the top.
What is going

on?

“Did I move in here?” Harris asked, confused.

He’d come to support Rohan during the funeral,

but he’d had every intention of returning home

afterward. He had already spent his day sketching

out his concept on the wall by the foyer. Harris

didn’t need to live there.

“I like you close by,” Rohan said, his words

final, as if he’d closed the subject. Nothing showed

on the vampire’s face. No teasing smile. No

forbidding scowl. He acted as if Harris was the

one acting strange.

Harris tried to object. He opened his mouth to

complain, to voice a negative response. He

couldn’t. Every atom in his body responded to

Rohan. Harris tamely let the vampire lead him

down the hall to an empty bedroom. A large bed

filled most of the space along with a wardrobe, a

side table and little else. Harris spotted two more

doors in the room. “Where do those go?”

Rohan pointed to the left. “Bathroom.” He

pointed to the right. “My room.”

“Your room?” Harris tried to hide his surprise.

He’d initially hoped Rohan might be taking him to

the vampire’s bedroom. The fact Rohan gave him

a choice raised his estimation in Harris’ eyes no

matter how stupid his supposition.

“Something wrong?” Rohan asked.

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Amber Kell

“Um, no. Nothing wrong.” Harris tried to

shove his desires to the darkest corner of his mind.

Rohan didn’t need him drooling over him while

he was still wrapped in sorrow over the death of

his coven mates.

Rohan cupped Harris’ face between his palms.

“You would tell me if you had a problem, right?

The only reason I want you to stay is because it’s

late and you’re tired. If you want to sleep in your

own bed tomorrow, you can.”

“What if I want to stay in your bed?” Damn, his

runaway mouth had taken over again. Of course,

there were always the benefits of healing sex.

Rohan frowned. “I don’t think you’re ready to

be in my bed, Harris. As much as I’d like you

there, I don’t want you to feel pressured.”

A tingle of yearning sizzled between them.

Need pulled at Harris like a physical force. “You

want me. I know you do.”

Rohan dipped his head, placing his lips next to

Harris’ ear. He spoke in his whiskey-smooth

voice, “I want you so much, I would give up blood

to have you.”

Harris jerked back. “I thought you couldn’t

have sex without biting.”

“For you, I would.” Rohan’s sincerity couldn’t

be faked.

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To Bite a Bear

Harris licked his lips. “Kiss me.” If nothing else,

he’d get at least one kiss before being sent to bed

like a child.

Rohan didn’t bother to ask Harris if he was

certain before he wrapped his fingers around

Harris’ head and held him still. Pressing his lips

against Harris’ mouth, he sucked and licked until

he gained entrance.

Harris moaned and relaxed against Rohan,

letting the vampire’s superior strength take his

weight.

Rohan slid his tongue across Harris’ in a duel

for dominance Harris had no intention of winning.

In a test of strength between them, they were

probably evenly matched, but Harris preferred to

be a lover over a fighter. Molding his body to

Rohan’s, he let the vampire take control.

He’d fantasized about Rohan touching him.

Since their first meeting, Harris had dreamed of

being wrapped in Rohan’s hard embrace. The

vampire didn’t have an ounce of fat on his large

frame; whether from his diet of blood or an

excellent workout regimen, Harris didn’t know.

Either way, he appreciated the man’s physique

and planned to explore it closer and with a great

deal of attention.

Unable to resist, Harris slipped his fingers

beneath Rohan’s shirt and caressed the strip of

bare skin he’d uncovered. Rohan’s skin, slightly

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Amber Kell

cooler than Harris’, had a smoother, silkier quality

than other lover’s Harris had had in the past.

Harris hummed in contentment.

Rohan jerked back, breaking their connection.

“Don’t think of other people while you’re

touching me.”

“How do you know what I’m thinking? Can

you read my mind?” Harris stepped back and

away from Rohan’s tempting skin. His fingers

itched as if protesting the separation. He needed

to solve the puzzle that was the vampire leader

before they jumped in the sack.

Rohan only allowed Harris to retreat a few

steps before he grabbed Harris’ wrist. “Don’t go

anywhere, beloved. I can only read shadows of

your mind, things you project and only when

we’re touching. It’s the way vampires beguile

their prey. We hear what our prey wants, and we

make them think they are getting it. I heard you

comparing me to others. I don’t want anyone but

me in your mind while we make love,” Rohan

explained.

The wistful gleam in Rohan’s eyes melted the

last tiny bit of resistance Harris had over making

love with a vampire. He didn’t know where this

might lead, but he planned to enjoy the sex while

Rohan still wanted him.

Harris tilted his head as he examined his

potential lover. “Why do you call me beloved? We

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To Bite a Bear

barely know each other.” He might be willing to

have sex with the delicious vamp, but he wouldn’t

be calling it love anytime soon. Obsession maybe,

definitely lust but not love. Not yet.

“I call you beloved because I know you belong

to me. For a vampire calling someone their

beloved marks them to other vampires. No one is

going to touch you or try to beguile you to their

side if they know you belong to me,” Rohan said.

“Do I?” Harris asked. “Do I belong to you? I

don’t remember signing up for that.”

Bossy, possessive vampire.

Harris hoped he hid his grin as Rohan laid

down the law—as if Harris would want anyone

else touching him. Although he’d had lovers in the

past, none of them had ever made Harris crave

them to the level Rohan did by just walking in the

room.

“Make no mistake, Harris, while you’re here,

you belong to me. I won’t have another vamp

touching you. If you can’t follow those rules,

you’re better off back at home.” Rohan’s eyes

glowed with the fervor of his statement.

“I didn’t know there were rules when I signed

up to paint a mural,” Harris objected.

“You can paint a mural for anyone but don’t go

into anyone else’s bed. You were mine the first

time I saw you at that gallery. You just didn’t

know it yet,” Rohan said.

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Amber Kell

“Which gallery?” Harris had recently showed

his work at several galleries in the area and hadn’t

seen Rohan there once.

“The Thornton-Brown Gallery. I saw you there

at First Thursday a month ago. You were talking

to Eaton. I thought you were the most beautiful

thing I’ve ever seen.”

Harris laughed uncomfortably at Rohan’s

words. “I’m not beautiful. Eaton is beautiful. I’m

not ugly, but I’m not as pretty as the others

either.”

Harris didn’t have a confidence issue, but he

lived with three completely stunning men. He

knew where he sat on the beautiful-man chart.

“There are different kinds of beauty, my

stunning bear,” Rohan scolded. “To me, you are

like the finest blood wine. A person to be savored

and appreciated over time.”

A blush burned Harris’ cheeks. Aden and

Carey would roll their eyes at his susceptibility,

but Rohan was like Harris’ personal gravitational

field and Harris a hapless moon revolving around

him. He knew Rohan had centuries to perfect his

smooth lines, and Harris shouldn’t take them

seriously, but the vampire’s delivery rang with

sincerity and twisted Harris in heart-shaped knots.

Harris didn’t object when Rohan pulled him

back into the vampire’s arms. He sighed at the

rightness of Rohan wrapped around him. “I like

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To Bite a Bear

you, too, Rohan. I don’t know where this might

lead, but I like you.” He’d also like to explore the

vampire’s body in close detail, like he planned to

sculpt Rohan and needed to map out his skin.

“Good. I was hoping you’d say that,” Rohan

murmured. He dipped down and breathed in

Harris’ scent. “You smell delicious.” A groan

rumbled through the vampire.

Harris froze.

“Like food?” He couldn’t help the tremor that

worked its way through his body. Had his naivety

led to him being a vampire munchie? Carey

would never forgive him.

“No, babe. You smell like mine. Even the

humans we feed on, we don’t treat like food. They

are valuable members of our family. My coven

isn’t the type to snack and go. Many of our human

feeders have been with us for years, which made

their poisoning cut that much deeper.

Harris had learned that the poisoned humans

were returned to their families for burial. Once

dead, the vampires lost all rights to their human

partner. Since vampires were still considered the

figment of authors’ fertile imaginations, they

weren’t granted partner rights even if they’d been

with the human for a number of years.

“Too much talking.” Harris grabbed Rohan’s

shirt and yanked him closer. This time, he took the

more dominant role, knowing it would trigger

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Amber Kell

Rohan’s hunter instincts. He nipped Rohan’s

bottom lip and tugged at it with his teeth.

Rohan growled; the feral sound had the hair

rising on Harris’ body.

“You don’t need to feel like mine, you need to

know it deep in your bones.” Rohan pushed

Harris over onto the mattress. Harris hadn’t even

noticed they’d been moving in that direction until

he landed on the soft surface, bouncing slightly.

“Oh dear, what are you going to do with me

now?” Harris asked. He couldn’t stop the

ridiculous smile he knew spread across his face.

Belong to Rohan? Definitely. At least for the night.

The vampire stood above him and unbuttoned

his shirt. Before Harris’ avid attention, Rohan

kicked off his dress shoes and stripped down the

rest of the way to his black briefs.

“Nice.” Harris was mildly surprised Rohan

didn’t go commando, but he wasn’t going to

complain. The sexy vampire could’ve made long

white boxers and tube socks look good.

“Now, let’s see what you’ve been hiding from

me,” Rohan said, his voice rough like a cat’s purr.