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He wasn’t sure how long he’d been drinking, just that his head spun and his body throbbed. Jayden’s hand burned like a brand against his shoulder. Octavius tore free, licked Saint’s wound clean, using a small amount of venom to trigger the healing process, and slumped back in the chair like a deadweight.
“Are you trying to kill him?!” Jay screeched.
“No, no…” Octavius mumbled. He shoved from the chair and stumbled toward the door. Venom sizzled through his veins, turning his body into fragile glass. “Trying… to save… him.”
The floor tilted out from under him and he went down, falling into darkness.
* * *
He woke later,sprawled on a bed, fully clothed, limbs akimbo, dumped there by Jayden. His head was clearer, so there was that.
He groaned upright, and waited a few minutes for the room to stop spinning, then stumbled from the bedroom, through the house. He could hear Jayden’s heartbeat, could smell him, a mixture of male and soap. He dozed on the couch, unaware and vulnerable, apart from the knife clamped in his grip.
They were going to be all right. But Octavius needed Jayden to help, or it wouldn’t work.
“Jayden?” Octavius propped himself against the edge of the couch.
He jolted awake and glared. “You look like shit.”
“I need you to trust me. I’m doing this to save him.”
His glare softened. “Really?” he croaked, and set the knife aside.
He was a good soul, just like Saint had said. He’d come through for them. “I’ve been cruel to you, and I’m sorry for that. But I need your help right now. I can’t save him without you.”
Catching on fast, he rolled up his sleeve, exposing his wrist. “Do it. Whatever you need. We’re in this together.”
Octavius didn’t have the strength or patience to go slow. He sank to his knees, grasped Jayden’s wrist, and bit. Jayden hissed in pain. Human blood poured over Octavius’s tongue and down his throat, igniting all the wild urges he’d kept in check for so long. Pleasure spilled down his spine, reviving primal needs—to bite and fuck and own humans—all over again. As he drank, the physical hunger waned, but other urges surged, making him pulse with a different kind of need.
His cock hardened, growing heavy and sensitive, but he had enough control to resist, and when he’d taken enough blood, he sealed the wound with a lick across Jayden’s wrist and slumped on the floor, taking a few seconds to regain control of his senses.
Jayden sighed and dropped next to him on the couch. “How many times do we do this?”
“Until the venom is out of his system.”
“Then I’d better get some groceries while I can.”
While he could?“I won’t hurt you.” Jayden was key to making this work. Without his blood, Octavius wouldn’t be strong enough to filter out the venom—to go back again and again to take as much as they needed for this to work. But he wouldn’t hurt Jayden for other reasons too.
Such as, he liked him.
Jayden smiled, and his handsome sun-kissed face brightened. “I know. But if this is going to be anything like Saint’s fuck-fests, I’ll need the fuel.”
“I… No… We won’t… be doing that.” Octavius cleared his throat. Sex was out of the question, despite his body’s demands.
Jayden’s left eyebrow shot up and he looked pointedly at Octavius’s crotch. He wasn’t as hard as he had been, but Jayden’s gaze triggered a tantalizing thrill that had him aching for touch all over again.
Octavius climbed to his feet and headed for the kitchen. “Once I’m sure the venom is out of my system, I’ll see if I can get Saint to feed from me. I suspect it’ll take a few tries to rouse him. He’ll need to be desperate, more desperate than he is now.” He’d be rabid and out of his mind, less man, more nyk. That would be the most dangerous part of this plan. Most nyks were at their most vicious when they were dying.
“If we can wake him, why doesn’t he feed from me?” Jayden asked.
“Because he’ll tear out your throat.”
“And he won’t do that to you?” Jayden joined Octavius at the kitchen’s island counter. He even seemed concerned for Octavius.
Saint was right, Jayden was a good person. A rare thing in this world, and having tasted his blood, Saint had also been truthful when he’d said Jayden wasn’t a feeder. In all the months they’d been together, Saint hadn’t infected him with venom. He still had his free will.
He’d chosen to be here.
