Between the Marshal & the Vampire(38)

"What happened?" Mariel gasped, uncomprehending. But right away she smelled the gunpowder rising from Clay.

The Marshal rolled smoothly to his feet, his smoking gun barrel aimed at the bandit's unmoving body.

"Where did you get that?" she asked.

"Vellum and I made a deal. He held up his end of it. Just like he always does," he added, almost to himself. When he reached the bandit, he toed the man's leg before kicking it. It was a corpse.

Clay sighed as he holstered his weapon. With his back to Mariel, he said, "I can't believe you thought I would do such a thing, Mariel. Am I really such a bastard that you thought me capable of killing Vellum just because he made me uncomfortable?"

Shame rushed through her. She jumped to her feet. "Clay, I'm sorry. I never should have thought that of you. Never. You're a good, kind man. I know that."

"No, I wasn't so good or kind earlier," he mused while resting his hand on the crate's lid. "I was a bastard, Mariel. To Vellum. And to you. I've never been in a situation like this before. Never felt…Never mind. It hasn't been easy for me, but that's no excuse for acting the way I did toward you both. Neither of you deserved that."

The sun disappeared behind the hills and immediately the crate lid slid aside, making Clay jump back reflexively. Vellum sat up, as handsome and unruffled as ever. He glanced dismissively at the body of the bandit before staring hard up at Clay.

"I won't make you issue an apology, Marshal," he said quietly. "I don't need that from you."

"My name is Clay." He swallowed hard and held out his hand to Mariel. She hastily joined his side as they stood over the crate. "Maybe instead of apologizing, I can do penance. Say, making sure you both find your pleasure before I do?"

Mariel's lips parted as lust rushed through her. "Clay…"

"Have you ever taken another male's cock in your mouth, Clay?"

Vellum's blunt, brutal question brought back the Marshal's shoulders, but he didn't back down from the test. "Reckon there's a first time for everything," he said with his chin raised stubbornly.

"I agree," the vampire said.

Before he said or did anything else, he grabbed the dead bandit and carried him effortless into the darkness.

Clay exchanged a wary look with Mariel.

"Reckon I'm in deep trouble?" he asked her.

She laughed nervously. "It won't be bad. Trust him."

"I do, but—"

Vellum emerged from the shadows, killing their conversation. He walked a slow, deliberate line toward Clay. With excruciating slowness, as if taunting Clay to flinch or back away, he reached out and slid his fingers into the golden strands of the Marshal's hair.

"I think we're overdue for your first time with me," Vellum told him in a low voice, the voice that Mariel heard in her head when she touched herself.

A shuddery breath slipped from between Clay's lips. "If that's what you want."

"I want more than that. I want you to admit that you want it."

She read Clay's resistance in the firming of his lips. "So it's humiliation you're after? Fair enough. I owe you that and more."

"I don't want your humiliation," Vellum murmured, looking him over as if unable to decide where he wanted to bite Clay first. "I want your submission."

It was a surrender she believed the Marshal couldn't give. Clay was too accustomed to running the show; he had to, when he was responsible for the lives and safety of others.

But apparently the stress of that responsibility had reached its limits, or else Clay truly was determined to make amends for his behavior, for he looked Vellum square in the eye and said, "I'll submit to you."

Without another word, Vellum used his grip on the Marshal's hair to force Clay down to his knees in the dirt. Clay resisted instinctually, but within seconds he relaxed, his hands even reaching out to the front of the vampire's thighs for support. Once he was settled, Vellum pulled Clay's face to the vampire's groin and against the firm bulge there.

Vellum's voice deepened into pure alpha, bringing a shiver to Mariel's skin. "Take my cock out, Clay. Place it between your lips."

With trembling fingers, Clay yanked open Vellum's trousers and freed his pale, erect cock. It looked daunting even to Mariel. Clay hesitated, a final masculine resistance to an act wholly foreign to him, but then, likely driven by pride, he shook his head and leaned in.

"Use your tongue first," Vellum murmured.

Mariel clenched her thighs as Clay extended his tongue and gently licked across the head of the vampire's cock. When she saw him close his eyes and begin licking with more confidence, she had to swallow back a moan.

"Congratulations, Marshal." Vellum's voice wasn't quite smooth as he said, "I'd wager you're the first human male to lick a vampire's cock. And you're doing an admirable job of it."

Clay shivered, but Mariel didn't think it was from revulsion.

Vellum curled his fingers beneath the Marshal's jaw. "Now take me deeper. Give me true satisfaction in your mouth. I know you've imagined it. Don't think I haven't noticed. Your cock gets hard for me every time I touch you, and even when I don't." He used his thumb to trace Clay's bottom lip. "You're finally getting what you want, so you'd better enjoy it. Next time, I may make you beg for this."