Rosko, Mandy - Night and Day (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove)

MANDY ROSKO

Copyright © 2011

Chapter One

Cedric drank in the sights with hungry eyes. If he’d been sitting, his knee would have twitched with lusty impatience as male after gorgeous male sauntered by, occasionally with a sexy twinge of the lips that gave Cedric all sorts of forbidden ideas.

“Benny, what’ve I gotten myself into?”

“That kid in a candy store look suggests you don’t mind,” his bodyguard said.

And mind he did not. All around him was a buffet of tall, broad-shouldered, clean-shaven men. Even the servants were sights to behold, but Cedric wasn’t after a werewolf lover, or even one of those blood-whoring humans. He’d crashed this party looking for a vamp.

Rumor had it they were insanely amazing lovers. They could seduce with a look and bring about an orgasm with the most innocent of touches. Which was precisely what he was after this night. His last time.

Since this was the birthday party celebrating the centennial of the vampire lord’s son, it made it easy to spot who was who in the crowd. Everyone with a flute of what looked like tomato juice—
looked
like—was indeed a vamp. A few of them even had their fangs out, not bothering to hide them in mixed company.

The others, the ones who were just as well dressed, but were drinking scotch or champagne with no sign of fangs, Cedric would ignore. Odds were good they were humans, invited only for their necks and to liven the place up with more people. Cedric didn’t want any of that. A drunk human in his bed, one who belonged to someone else even, wasn’t his cup of tomato juice.

A scruffy-haired waiter spotted them, moved in their direction, and Ben snatched two glasses of white wine from his tray with a nod of thanks. It was well known that vampires didn’t give their were-servants any more gratitude than that, and neither of them wanted to appear out of place. Ben’s idea.

Though they were both friends from all the way back to childhood, the human teleporter was still a member of Cedric’s family guard. Just being here, with his charge surrounded by so many creatures who hated him, was probably giving the poor man an ulcer.

Cedric was a sun sprite. Vampires
hated
sun sprites. Of course, sun sprites also hated vampires. It must’ve been a night and day, cat and dog, sort of thing. Whatever. Cedric didn’t mind putting aside old prejudices for a little fun and rebellion. In all honesty, this was his first time even being in the same room with a vampire, let alone two hundred of them, and it wasn’t so bad. Of course, that could be the champagne in him talking.

Speaking of which… Cedric downed his drink right away. Though he was opposed to having whatever lover he took being wasted, the added courage of the alcohol was a benefit as he searched for someone to
rock his cock
, as Ben had eloquently put it once Cedric got him on board with the idea.

It might be someone else’s birthday, but it was Cedric’s last night of freedom, so he could be a hypocrite all he wanted.

They both hid away in a corner, under a giant velvet curtain with golden tassels that framed windows as high as the ceiling. Windows in a vampire household tended to be tinted and usually stayed closed. Not tonight. There was no moon out, only stars, so it was a good night for vamps to keep these curtains and windows open.

With his glass to his lips, Ben nodded toward the curved staircase where some of the guests mingled on its red carpet. “What about him?”

Cedric’s eyes found the suggestion immediately. Grey in the hair, and a face with a slight sag to it. He crinkled his nose in distaste. “No.”

“You’re here to get laid, don’t forget.” And from the sound of it, Ben wanted Cedric to hurry up with that so they could go.

“Just not by someone old enough to be my father.”

This wasn’t the only problem, really. Vamps that age usually had wives or husbands lurking somewhere nearby, and along with the rumor of their skills in bed, they were well known for not—scratch that—
never
sharing their spouses.

“Huh.” Ben looked at him. “So, beggars can be choosers?”

“Shut up.” Cedric wished another waiter would come along so he could have another drink. Would it look suspicious if he grabbed another white glass instead of a blood glass?

If the vampires who owned this mansion knew a sun sprite was under their roof, the violins would screech to a halt and all eyes would stare as he was ordered off the property.

That was the better scenario.

Luckily, because of Ben’s teleporting trick, if any of the vamps here got a whiff of what he was and tried to jump on his neck, he and Ben would be out of the house and across the city before any of the suckers could so much as reveal their fangs.

While sun sprites could
flash
to and from most locations, they had to be in direct sunlight for it to work. As it was obviously owl time now, Cedric had to rely on Ben, who could teleport whenever he wanted. Lucky bastard.

The same waiter from before must have seen the empty glass in his hand, because he came over with another tray. A single bushy brow lifted when Cedric picked the white glass again, but he said nothing, simply took the empty flute and scurried off.

“Maybe you should ease off. People are starting to look at us,” Ben muttered, ever watchful.

Cedric tilted his head back and let the liquid slip down his throat like before, and then he struck the glass down on the marble side table. “That’s the last one,” he promised. He didn’t want to be so drunk that he was all limp-dicked later. If there would be a later with any of the men in the giant ballroom.

Jee-eeze, did he really have to do this? Well, he wanted to do this. Finding out if vamps were as good as the stories said they were would be a real treat, but did he really have to think of it as being his last time? His parents wanted him to marry, tomorrow, actually, but what were they going to do if he put his foot down and said no?

Probably throw his ass out. He would be just as ruined as they would if he refused to cooperate, and he would never again be welcome within any sun sprite circles.

But Ben would never turn his back on him. Maybe—

“What about him?” Ben nodded again toward a grand marble fireplace where the majority of the male crowd seemed to be, vampires laughing with their fangs out and humans with fresh bite marks at their necks.

They were part of the younger crowd. Or at least, the crowd that looked younger—one never knew how old vampires really were—and while one or two of them were pleasing to Cedric’s eyes, their loud, obnoxious laughter was a turn-off.

He needed a lover who would please him enough to last a lifetime. He didn’t want to end up in bed with someone who was more concerned about their own pleasure.

“I don’t think that’s going to work.”

“Jesus, you’re picky,” Ben muttered.

Cedric glared. “And you damn well remember why.”

Ben’s cheeks had the decency to darken. “Sorry.”

Fuck, if any of the vamps smelled his rising blood they were done for. “Don’t worry about it.” If Cedric said more, made a big show of telling his friend no harm done, it would only take longer to get that red off his face.

Luckily, it went down quickly as Ben cleared his throat and composed himself. Hopefully, no one noticed.

“Y’know, if you can’t find anyone here, I could always arrange for something else.”

A crash sounded on the marble floor, its nasty metal clang vibrating and echoing across the walls, stealing the attention in the room.

Cedric’s heart hammered in his throat as his worst nightmare came true. All chatter stopped, the cellos and violins screeched, and every head turned.

His body froze, and beside him, Ben grabbed his arm with a falcon claw grip, ready to teleport them out.

But no eyes stared in their direction. When the enraged yelling started, it wasn’t at either of them.

One of the waiters had dropped his tray, and one of the older vamps in a penguin tail suit, was bent over him, yelling as the poor creature scrambled to collect the broken glass.

“Idiot! Worthless were-fool! That crystal is older than your grandparents!”

There were collective nods throughout the room. The waiter sputtered his apologies, but the yelling only seemed to make his hands clumsy, knocking away the broken shards when he meant to pick them up. The ladies put their sharp noses in the air while some of the males smirked at the show. Nearly everyone whispered amongst themselves as they watched.

Wow, and he’d been thinking about fucking one of these snobs.

“Jesus, let’s just go,” Ben muttered.

Cedric was a hair away from agreeing before the next scene unfolded. “Wait.”

Another vampire, similar in appearance to the first but for the modern style of his black Armani suit and more youthful features, came and put his hand on the older vamp’s shoulder. The shouting stopped, and the younger vampire motioned with his fingers for two more servants with rags and brooms to enter the ballroom. They scuttled in quick succession toward their fallen coworker before quickly and efficiently helping him with the shattered crystal.

Cedric’s eyes went back to the vamp responsible for the tiny mercy.

Whoa
.
Hello
.

His dark hair was just long enough to produce a bit of a wave, framing a pale face with high cheekbones, a strong nose and square chin. He stood tall, proud, and serious, an eagle amongst a flight of pigeons. Cedric kept his eyes locked on him, not wanting to lose sight of the man should he disappear as quickly as he’d come.

Whoever he was, he addressed the room with authority. His clear voice carried easily and wrapped around Cedric like a blanket fresh from the dryer. “Ladies and gentlemen, please accept an apology from my parents and myself for the intrusion on your night.” His mouth broke into a wide grin, revealing teeth that were perfect—even with the inclusion of pointed fangs—and as white as his skin.

With a start, Cedric realized this was the vampire the party was being held for. The son of the lord of the house.

The great and honorable Lord Silus Wiktor Veturious...was defending a servant? Better still, this was the vampire Cedric wanted to take to bed.

Oh. Shit.

“I bid you all please resume your entertainments, and more food, drink, and music will be available until well beyond sunup.”

Several vamps lifted their blood glasses in a toast while others, mostly the males, clapped their hands and cheered.

Ben, who had somehow obtained his own flute of blood without Cedric noticing, lifted it to his lips.

Cedric raised an eye at him.

“I’m not going to drink the whole thing. And it’ll help me keep up appearances until we can get out of here.”

That really meant, until Cedric gave up and decided to go home.

“I’ve made my decision.”

It was only the tiniest of sips that Ben took, but he still choked on it, coughing up just enough blood to put some of the nasty droplets onto his chin. He wiped them away with the sleeve of his suit, ruining it. “What did you say?”

Cedric nodded toward Silus, who accepted the occasional handshake, or celebratory slap on the back, whether for his centennial, or for his smooth handling of the scene, Cedric couldn’t tell. Didn’t matter.

He’d chosen the vampire he wanted to spend his last hours as a free man fucking.

As if he heard his thoughts, Silus turned his head, and his black eyes met Cedric’s golden ones.

Cedric grinned and thought wicked, wicked thoughts. “I want Silus Veturious.”