Gerome cast a last longing look at his mate. He would love to curl up next to him and forget about his plans, but he couldn’t. He’d slept more than enough these last few days, and now, only two days before they had to return to Munich, it was time to make his promise to change the mating laws come true.
His brother was first. They hadn’t spoken in years, but if he was going to pull his plans off, he needed all the support he could get.
As soon as they were old enough, his siblings had moved out, which had been years ago. They all studied and lived normal lives and he’d lost contact with them when they stopped coming to coven gatherings.
It was his father’s fault. At every meeting, he’d tried to mate them to someone powerful. One day, they simply cut ties and vanished. Gerome should have done the same.
He looked up his brother’s number, praying it was still the same after all these years. If his brother had changed it, he’d have to track him down first, something he’d have a hard time doing while on vacation. He had his laptop with him, but no access to the files King Harold had.
The phone rang a couple of times and then a slightly breathless voice answered.
“Yeah?”
“Gordon? This is Gerome.”
“Gerome? Hey, long time no see! How’re you doing, little brother? Oh, give me a sec.”
Something rustled in the background, and Gerome heard some barking.
“Fine, girl. Okay, now I’m back. What’s up?”
“You have a child?”
“What? No, I was talking to my dog. I’m outside walking her.” Gordon laughed. “I don’t have time for kids, and Theresa, my girlfriend, isn’t too fond of stepping back from her job either. So no, no kids in the near future. You?”
Gerome swallowed hard. “Yeah, I have a daughter, and I’m mated, although not to the father of the child.”
“Whoa, slow down. You’re mated? And not to the father of your child?”
“I’m mated to a human. Father forced me into it, although we get along okay. Finally, I might add. Before that, I accidentally got Alex, a guy I picked up at a nightclub, pregnant. Apparently, we can impregnate men, even though I don’t think it’s relevant in your case. Anyway, Alex ended up pregnant and fell in love with his best friend. He was kidnapped, and father forced me to mate Luis in order to gain his help finding Alex.”
Silence met his words. Only Gordon’s heavy breathing came over the line.
“Are you there?” he finally asked.
“I am. I just have no idea what to say.”
“I know the feeling. Don’t worry. Everything is better now. You said you had a girlfriend. How long have you been together? Any chance of mating her?”
“We’ve been together for about four years now. I haven’t talked to her about a mating. Marriage, maybe. Mating, not so much. I’m not keen on it, to be honest.”
“I fully understand. I’m asking for a reason. I didn’t call simply because I wanted to catch up with you, even though we do need to have dinner soon. I want you to meet my man, and I’d like to get to know your girlfriend. But the real reason for my call is that I promised Luis I would change the mating laws. We are mated, and we can’t undo it, but I promised him I’d try to find a way to avoid letting anyone else suffer through a mating without love. That means I need help. I can’t go against our father and the covens alone. I need you. You said you weren’t keen on mating your girlfriend. Imagine how it feels to mate someone you never met. It’s what happened to Luis and me.”
“Shit. I’m so sorry. I never thought father would really do that. We all left because he was constantly pissing us off, but I never believed he’d simply mate you to someone. And especially considering you never even met this Luis before. That’s sick.”
Now it was sick, but for years, his siblings hadn’t cared about the matings. They just moved out, left the palace behind, and never came back. For them it was easy. For Gerome, not so much.
“It sucked big time. We’re finally getting along okay, but I still would have liked to pick someone I love, not a stranger. Luis is a great man, and I really like him, but that’s beside the point. He was miserable in the beginning. He never came out of his room, and he lost a lot of weight. Only now, more than eight months after our mating, he’s finally coming to terms with it. That’s wrong. It can’t be the meaning of a mating.”
“No, you’re right. What about you? How are you dealing with it?” Gordon sounded concerned.
Gerome stared out the window into the night and the twinkling hillside.
“I’m coming to terms with it as well. I made a lot of mistakes: mainly treating Luis the way father taught me. He was afraid of me for a long time. I hurt him badly when I thought I was doing the right thing. It took a good friend to rip me apart and make me realize what I’d done. After that, I went against what we’ve been taught and did what I believed was right. The result is that we’re speaking to each other, that he forgives me, and that I finally got to see the man I mated. I pulled myself back from the mating completely, and I never deliberately hurt Luis, but I don’t think all vampires are like that. What if someone forces his mate?” Gerome swallowed hard. He couldn’t speak further.
“I understand. What do you need? Money? My support? This has to stop.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much,” Gerome croaked around the lump in his throat. Damn, why was he choking up? Right, the thought of someone hurting Luis. “I need you to back me up, to stand beside me. If I go to father alone, he won’t listen. I was thinking about waiting until he stepped down and I’d be the new king, but I figured the sooner I begin changing things, the better. Are you with me?”
“I am. When do we meet to make a plan?”
“I don’t know yet. I need to call the others. I want to have as much backup as possible. Please don’t tell anyone yet. I don’t want the word to spread.”
“Okay. Let me know when you have something. And if I can help you in the meantime, you know where to reach me.”
“Thank you. You don’t know how much this means to me.”
“I can imagine. Talk to you soon, okay?”
“Okay. Thank you. Have a good evening.”
“You too. Don’t work too much. And say hi to the others for me.”
“Will do.”
Gordon disconnected, and Gerome put his phone on the table, then ran a hand over his face. One down, three to go. Crap. At least, Gordon instantly agreed to help.
“Didn’t go as you wanted it to?”
Soft hands appeared on his shoulders, kneading the knots there.
“It went well. I just haven’t spoken to my brother in quite some time. And I have three more siblings to go.” Simply enjoying the touches, Gerome paused. “Shouldn’t you be sleeping? Why are you up?” he asked softly.
“I was thirsty, and I heard you talking. I didn’t mean to interrupt you. I’m—”
“Don’t say you’re sorry. You have no reason for it. I have no secrets from you.”
“I’m—okay, I’m not sorry.”
Luis’ fingers kept up their great work, delivering just the right pressure to the sore spots.
“That sounds better.” Gerome tilted his head back so he could look at his mate. Luis wore nothing but a sexy smile that sent Gerome’s hormones into a tumult. For everything that was holy, he needed him now. Even if his hair stood up in weird directions and his face was soft from sleep, he’d never been sexier than at this moment—standing naked in the room and massaging Gerome’s shoulders.
“Thank you,” Luis said softly and leaned down to kiss Gerome. The position was uncomfortable, so they kept the kiss short, but Gerome’s heart raced. He needed to go back to bed with his mate. He needed him. Calling his siblings could wait until later. For now, he needed Luis. Leaning forward, he moved away from Luis’ tempting lips. “Come on, let’s go back to bed. I can call my siblings later.”
“You sure? I don’t want you to think you have to stop because of me. I can close the door if you don’t want me to hear you.”
Gerome stood and walked around the chair. “I just told you I don’t have secrets from you.” He gently gripped Luis at his biceps. “I want to go to bed with you because I like your hands on me. I like the kisses and the sight of you. And right now, I want to crawl back to bed with you and hold you, not call my siblings.”
“Oh, okay. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I should’ve made it clearer.” Gerome looked down. Why did Luis still mistrust him so much?
“Come here, please.” Luis smiled invitingly. “I’m sorry I assumed you wanted space. I think we both need to take a deep breath sometimes.”
“Maybe. Still, thank you for offering me space, but I’d rather go back to bed with you.” Gerome leaned up and pressed a kiss to Luis’ lips.
Silently, they went to the bedroom, where Gerome undressed. Luis simply slipped under the covers. Just as naked now, Gerome followed. They snuggled close, Luis’ head on Gerome’s shoulder, and his fingers on Gerome’s bare skin. Happiness and warmth flooded him.
He’d always yearned to find a partner who was his equal, who didn’t back down, no matter what. It looked like he’d found him at last.