Back to Hell

Excerpt From: Back to Hell

Luc Hellbourne jolted awake, his nightmares fading as his bedroom came into focus. The warm heat of his lover Bran snuggled up against him further calmed him down. Damn. He’d had them again! Ever since he’d escaped from hell his dreams had been a jumbled mess of odd visions. Unfortunately, he never remembered any of the details when they receded, leaving behind the unsettling belief he’d missed something important.

Carefully he separated his body from his lover’s. Luc knew from experience he’d be unable to fall back to sleep-too many mornings he’d woken up the same way.

Still groggy, he set his feet on the floor only to yank them back up when he encountered a body. Glancing over the side of the bed, he found his rescued demon Carn lying beside the bed with his bonded vampire Jerrod beside him. They were close to each other but not touching.

As if sensing Luc’s regard, Jerrod’s blue eyes blinked open. "Good morning, Master."

"Good morning, Jerrod. Is there a reason you and Carn are sleeping beside my bed?"

Bran was going to shit puppies if he awoke to people under his feet.

"You haven’t slept lately. We were hoping our presence would calm you," Carn said in a sleep-roughened voice. "In the book it says you might start to fade if you don’t get enough sleep."

"What book?"

The pair exchanged a look before Jerrod reluctantly answered, "The pack book. Nikko let us have it once you decided to live away from the vampires. He wanted to make sure you were taken care of."

Nikko. Even hearing the vampire’s name stabbed holes in Luc’s heart. As much as he loved Bran, he still had moments of complete sorrow over losing his vampire. He tried to hide his pain from his werewolf lover but Luc knew at times Bran could sense his unhappiness.

Shaking his head, Luc returned to the discussion at hand. He vaguely remembered the pack mentioning they were compiling a notebook about how to take care of Luc years ago, but he’d thought it was a joke. "They seriously made a book?"

Jerrod nodded. "It’s called The Care and Feeding of Lucifer Hellbourne. One of the things in it says if you don’t rest well you might start to fade. Carn and I were worried."

"Thank you for your concern, but you don’t need to worry. I’m not fading." Breaking into tiny parts in a slow excruciating manner...but not fading.

"Sorry, Master." Carn’s red skin became a little redder. "Why don’t I go get you some breakfast, Master?" he offered.

"That would be great." Luc gave the demon a smile to let him know he wasn’t angry. Carn had suffered enough abuse at the hands of Luc’s brother that the young demon still flinched whenever he thought someone was angry with him.

As soon as he’d left, Jerrod slid his fingers through Luc’s hair. "Kiss me good morning, Master?"

Luc sighed but he knew the young vampire well enough by now to know that Jerrod would pull the I need to bond with my master card if Luc didn’t agree to at least a kiss.

Jerrod only belonged to Luc because Luc had saved him from his old master. However, Jerrod often used Luc’s reluctance to harm him as an invitation to take advantage.

After a few minutes of kissing, Luc set Jerrod away from him. Jerrod’s cheeks glowed with passion and his eyes had a bright light of need as he watched Luc.

"Why don’t you go see if Carn needs any help in the kitchen? It’s probably time for you to feed again."

Jerrod squeezed Luc’s cock. "I found something I can feed on."

Luc knew the vampire had meant that in a sexy way but his erection trembled with fear. "I don’t think I want your fangs anywhere near my dick when you’re this excited. Go drink from Carn-that’s why I have him here."

Luc knew if Bran woke with Jerrod sucking Luc off, the shifter might lose control and kill him. While Bran understood the necessity of Luc bonding with Jerrod, he wouldn’t appreciate it if Luc started each day fucking the sexy vamp through the mattress.