Rosko, Mandy - Night and Day (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) (2 page)

Chapter Two

The servants hardly need more supervision. They could clean the rest of the glass and spilled blood without his eyes hovering over them. He just did not wish to give his father any more of a reason to disrupt the guests, or cause the poor were to unman himself in front of his betters.

Besides, he was curious about the blond-haired vamp who stared at him with such open lust. It was not anyone Silus recognized. Not a business partner of his father’s, an old acquaintance from school with whom he had lost touch, not even one of the men he had visited at the brothel. So unless he was new, he was not a paid professional brought as a birthday present.

This, unfortunately, was one of the few ways Silus managed to have his more carnal urges satisfied.

He needed to know. Who was that? Only one person could say with authority, and Silus made his way nearly to the top of the grand stairs before he made it to his goal. “Father, who is that?”

The older vampire turned away from his wife to look up at his son. At five eleven, Silus was incredibly tall for a vampire.

Lord Wiktor Vaughn Veturious turned and followed his son’s eyes to the windows. “Ah, them…” His lips curled up in a hint of a sneer.

It was his mother, Lady Ariadne, who answered, swirling her blood flute in her delicate hand. In her little black gown that reached her feet, she appeared rail thin. “We believe they are humans.”

Silus’s brows shot to his widow’s peak. He refrained from turning his wide eyes to stare once more should he frighten them away. “Humans?”

Ah, yes, how could he have not seen it? Those men in the corner did have a bit of a golden gleam in their skins. Tans from being touched by the sun. Yet the only humans ever allowed to vampire functions were the ones who wanted to donate blood, and not to their precious Red Cross. Even then, these humans did not appear to have any other vampires nearby, which could only mean one thing. They were not owned, and therefore, they were
uninvited
.

It actually made Silus smile. “They are crashing my party.”

The sneers on his parents’ faces deepened.

“Quite,” his father said, deeming to not so much as look in the direction of the intruders. “We do not know how they ever managed to get in, but the guards will be punished for this offense.”

Silus risked a glance back under the curtains where the troublemakers waited. The blond male was still looking at him like he was something to eat, which was ironic and completely backwards.

And intriguing.

“What is to be done with them?”

“Nothing,” his father snapped. “I do hope their presence will not spoil your moment, my son, but after that clumsy were made a spectacle, I would rather not have any more scandal in my house tonight.”

Only Wiktor could refer to something as inconsequential as a servant dropping some glass as a scandal. ’Twas Silus’s centennial, yet truly the party was more of a social event for his parents. Strengthen connections, and all that.

“The guests are being quietly informed that they are our private feeders. This will ensure that once they are scented, no one will approach them.” His mother’s voice sounded so droll between sips of her blood, but she was not known to be as sensational and emotional as her husband.

It made perfect sense, too. If these were humans who were simply performing a daring stunt, the most logical option would be to ignore them until they went away.

Silus turned toward the blond again. He was perhaps as tall as Silus, with short, thick golden hair. There was a hint of a dimple on his chin, and his amber-gold eyes continued to watch him in a way that screamed come hither. The taller, dark-haired companion next to him seemed to be whispering frantically in his ear, attempting to coerce his friend into leaving, no doubt.

The adventuresome ones always came with their squeamish entourage.

But the golden eyes stayed locked on Silus. A pink tongue darted out to wet a pair of full lips. How much fuller would they become once they’d been kissed to submission? Or after being wrapped around his erect—

“Would you like me to see them out?”

Both his parents turned their black eyes to him.

“Merely for the sake of peace in your household,” he said. ’Twas not entirely a lie if there was truth to it. “Curious humans they may be, but should they continue to be ignored for too long, one of them might become courageous enough to directly attempt to gain some attention.”

Silus wanted to give one of those humans in particular a great deal of attention, indeed.

His mother sniffed at the idea. His father’s brow lifted.

“Also, perhaps I could persuade one of them to reveal the secret of their grand entrance. Then the guards will be aware of whatever hole in their defenses allowed these humans to get in.”

Wiktor’s smile revealed long fangs. “Even on your centennial you cannot be happy without solving a dilemma. My son, you are a born leader.”

Silus fought the urge to sniff with disdain. Born leader. Another of his father’s hints for Silus to take a more active role in the family business.

Trafficking and selling stolen humans to wealthy vampire families might be profitable, but there were other, easier ways to obtain blood. Especially when so many humans were willing to volunteer their necks anyway.

He didn’t bother getting into that argument again. It would take far too much time and ruin his mood. Silus’s whole body thrummed with the urge to move, take the golden-haired man from the corner and stake his claim somewhere private. “Then, I have your permission?”

His father waved his hand. “Go, if you must. Your presence has been noted by your guests. Food and drink have been consumed, gifts received. No one shall think it rude if you steal yourself away for a moment. Or a night.”

Lady Ariadne stiffened as her husband’s meaning dawned on her.

Silus clasped his father’s arm in thanks before making his escape. While his mother never truly approved of his interest in his own sex, his father had always laughed it away and encouraged Silus to bed whomever he wished. So long as he was discreet, of course.

Hence the need for brothels.

Despite his father’s praise, the old vampire had fooled himself into believing Silus’s sexual interests were a phase, and the men he bedded were mere conquests before he took a wife.

Nay. No. Never. There was only one thing Silus wanted, and at this moment, it did not remotely resemble a woman.

He had to force calm into his limbs, lest anyone take note of an eager spring in his step.

The dark-haired human became silent as it became apparent Silus was moving toward them, but the color of the golden-haired human’s eyes darkened with desire.

Brave, brave little thing.

Not so little as Silus approached. When he stopped before them, ‘twas apparent that the golden-haired human was taller by just an inch. Regardless, Silus would enjoy putting him on his knees.

While he gave off no trace of hostility, no glare from his eyes, the darker human inched closer to his friend, whether for protection or to be protected was the only question. But Silus was not curious on that matter. His only concern was how quickly he could send that human away.

“You should both know that everyone in this ballroom has been made aware of you.”

Golden eyes flew wide. For the first time, a hint of uncertainty entered them. “They have?”

Silus nodded. “Indeed.”

“Aaaand, that’s our cue to leave. Let’s go, Ceddy.”

“Wait.” Silus reached out and gripped Ceddy’s arm, terrified for no reason that the man would simply disappear. He couldn’t be
that
desperate for sex. Could he? “You may go,” he said to the darker one before gazing into those surreal golden eyes again. “You may stay.”

Like all territorial humans, the dark one became defensive. “Hey, I’m not leaving without my friend, pal.”

“Ben, go home.”

Silus closed his eyes to savor the silk of that voice. It was low and commanding with his friend. Would it be that way once Silus removed his clothes? He still gripped Ceddy’s upper arm, and he could feel the splendid bulge of muscle beneath, a mere hint of the generous masculinity hiding beneath tux, tie, and trousers.

The blood in Silus’s veins flowed to his erection and stayed there. He would have this human.

Ben leaned in to his friend. Silus growled low, but apart from a slight hesitation, the brown-haired human leaned his lips in farther to whisper, “You sure, man?”

Ceddy—what a strange name—broke eye contact for the first time to look at his friend. “I think I found what I was looking for.”

The knowledge that this man had set out to bed a vampire should not have bothered him so, yet it did. The idea that he would have accepted anyone was irksome. But there was no turning back. Silus needed to relieve himself, and he did not wish to do it alone on his centennial. ’Twould be far too sad.

“All right, call me when you get home.”

“Yes, Mother.” Ceddy sneered.

Ben flipped his middle finger before blinking out of existence.

Silus could not contain his shock.

“Teleporter,” Ceddy explained, as though Silus could not have deduced that on his own.

“Is that how you came to be here without an invitation?”

Ceddy’s luscious lips pulled up in a shy smile. How…adorable. “Yeah, it seems to work really well. He teleports us directly into any place, and most people wouldn’t think we snuck in.”

Well, this was happy news indeed. It meant he wouldn’t be forced by his father to give the guards a beating for neglecting their duty to his family.

Silus held out his hand. “I’ll escort you to my room.”

The corner of Ceddy’s mouth curled up. “Straight to the point. Not even a complimentary drink or bullshit conversation.”

“Do you like it?”

Ceddy didn’t take his hand, but instead hooked their arms together. Many electric tingles shot like charged bullets up and down Silus’s arm, and it wasn’t even a skin-to-skin connection.

“Love it. Lead the way.”

Chapter Three

Cedric was pulled away from the crowds of vampires to a hallway leading out of the ballroom. It relieved him to be away from all those bloodsuckers. Strange, considering that relief was brought on by being alone in a dark corridor with one of them.

It was probably the crowd itself that made him jittery, rather than its composition.

Silus was so quick he was nearly dragging Cedric behind him, but Cedric made no complaints when they came to a dark mahogany door, which Silus all but threw open. He threw Cedric inside the dark space, too—Cedric would’ve preferred the lights on, but to a vampire it probably didn’t matter—and began the immediate process of loosening his tie and removing his jacket.

“You know it’s better with a little help.” Cedric’s hands were all over the buttons of his red silk shirt, pulling them off with speed, yet also with enough care to keep from tearing any of the threads.

Silus’s hands stilled the instant Cedric touched him, but he said nothing, so Cedric continued.

“Have you ever been taken by a vampire?”

That caused Cedric to stop. He smiled a little smile at the slightly shorter vamp. “Who said I was going to be the one to give it up?”

Silus bristled, and a low sounding hiss worked up and out of his throat. It was cute. It reminded Cedric of a cat.

He laughed and raised his hands. “Okay, whatever. I’m not picky.”
Just so long as it’s mind-blastingly fantastic.

That last thought saddened him because with it came the memory of just why he needed this. Cedric pressed his mouth to the vamp’s lips to wash it away. He didn’t want anything tainting this.

Instantly a hand was in his hair, clenching and fisting. Silus’s other hand reached down to Cedric’s still-covered ass, clutched it in his fingers, and pulled the sprite close. Cedric open his lips and moaned in Silus’s mouth as his hard dick was pressed into Silus’s firm cock. His arms went around Silus’s shoulders to hang on tight. The man was like a rock with the way he kept Cedric upright.

He knew Silus was a vamp and all, but for a second, he forgot about their crazy strength. Perhaps being on the receiving end for his last time would be a better idea than he originally thought.

Of course, it didn’t appear as though Cedric was getting much of a reaction from Silus. No, this needed to be perfect for the both of them if Cedric was to be satisfied.

The neck. Of course, idiot. The neck was the place to be. It wasn’t just a great place for kissing and suckling during sex, but it was a well-known fact that vampires adored having their necks played with. Supposedly they could come from that stimulation alone.

Cedric broke their mouths apart and latched his lips onto the crook between jaw and neck. Right where the major artery sat.

This time Silus was the one to buckle. Cedric had to catch him before he fell to his knees. There would be time for that kind of action in just a minute.

“Ceddy.” Silus moaned.