“No,” Justin whispered softly, burying his face in the hand he still held onto.
This was his worst nightmare come to life. There was always a part of him that never quite believed in the bond that had developed between the three of them in the last couple of days. He was afraid he wouldn’t be able to keep that warm, safe feeling he got whenever he was with one or both of his mates.
“Justin, love,” Taylor said. “We’ll figure it out.”
“How?” Justin felt tears spring to his eyes as he lifted his head. “You’re in no condition to have sex. How are we going to do this?”
“If I might make a suggestion,” Zacarius said. Justin turned to look at the prince, desperately hoping the man had an answer to the situation. “While the ritual is very firm about this intimate connection, it is not specific on how you are connected.”
Justin started at the prince as the man’s words rolled over in his head. Maybe…“Is a blow job considered intimate enough?”
Prince Zacarius nodded. “I believe that would meet the requirements of the ritual, yes.”
Justin suddenly grinned. “Then get your witnesses, your highness. I know how to do this.”
Justin jumped to his feet and started stripping his clothes off. When Chase and Taylor just lay there and stared at him like he had a screw loose, Justin rolled his eyes. “Well, come on,” he said as he waved his hand at Chase. “Get naked.”
Chase’s eyes shot to Prince Zacarius and Devlin. “Now?”
“Yes, now.” Good god, what part of this plan wasn’t Chase getting? Justin huffed loudly. Apparently, he was going to have to draw his mates a map, maybe diagrams, too. And if the thickheaded men still didn’t get it, maybe he would have to drop breadcrumbs to Taylor’s ass. “Get naked. We’re going to play man in the middle, only I get to be in the middle this time. I’m going to blow Taylor while you fuck me. That will connect the three of us.”
“But—” Taylor started.
Justin felt like stomping his foot. His mates could be so infuriating at times, and this was one of them. “You can fuck me after you are all healed up. I’ll even let you bite me.”
Taylor’s eyebrows drew together in a deep frown. “Can we do that?”
“Yes,” the prince said. “It is perfectly acceptable for vampires to feed from each other. However, be warned, now that you are mated, drinking from any other than your mate is a death sentence.”
“But,” Chase said, “I thought you said that they would need to drink bagged blood until they had acclimated to being vampires.”
“All vampires can drink bagged blood, Chase,” Zacarius replied. “But mated vampires cannot drink directly from the source other than from their mates.” He quickly held up his hand when Chase opened his mouth. “Don’t ask me why because I do not know. But I believe it has something to do with the bond between mates.”
“There, see?” Justin didn’t wait for his mates to reply. He just finished getting naked, pulling his shirt over his head and dropping it on the floor. Then he went to work on his shoes and pants.
He could see activity around him, people moving throughout the room, but he didn’t pay much attention to it. He needed to keep an eye on Taylor’s breathing, the wound in his side. If anything happened to Taylor because of this fool ritual, Justin was going to lose it.
Once he was naked, Justin pulled the sheet off Taylor’s body and then climbed up onto the bed, settling himself on his hands and knees between the man’s legs. He could see Taylor’s hard cock bouncing in front of him, but still…
“Are you ready for this?” Justin asked as he glanced up to Taylor’s pale face.
“What do you think?” Taylor looked pointedly at his erect cock.
“I think your dick has a mind of its own and would be hard if you were in a coma. What I need to know is if you are ready for this.”
Taylor chuckled. “Yeah, babe, I’m ready for this.”
“You’ll tell me if anything starts to hurt?”
Taylor huffed. “Yes, Justin, I’ll tell you if anything starts to hurt.”
Justin narrowed his eyes. “You’d better.”
“I promise, love.”
Justin wasn’t sure if he could trust Taylor under the circumstances. The man was wounded. He could be delusional for all Justin knew. Still, if they performed the ritual like the prince said, they could save Taylor, and frankly, that was all that mattered at the end of the day.
Being mated for all eternity was just a bonus.
Justin turned when he felt Chase climb up on the bed behind him. “Hi.”
Chase grinned. “Hi.”
“Are you ready for this?”
“I am.”
Okay, the main players were on board. “Prince Zacarius?”
“Yes, little one?”
“Can we get this thing going?” Justin asked. “I want to perform the ritual before Taylor gets any worse.”
“We’re just waiting on our other wit—ah, here he is now.”
Justin glanced over his shoulder to see a man walk into the room. It was the same man that had killed the intruder that shot Taylor. “Marc, right?”
The man smiled. “That’s me.”
Justin vaguely remembered the man. His acquaintance with him had been short, but memorable. “You were one of the guys that helped rescue us from the Teacher, aren’t you?” Justin already knew the answer. “Thank you.”
“I was one of many, Justin. There is no need to thank me.”
“Yeah.” Justin snorted. “You spend twenty years with the Teacher and see if you feel the same way.”
Marc nodded. “You’re welcome.”
“If you all take your positions,” the prince said, “we will begin.”
His position? Right. Mouth on Taylor’s cock, ass in the air. That was his position. And it was a tad embarrassing considering that the prince, Devlin, and Marc were all in the room with Justin and his mates. But Justin would push aside the fact that they were putting on a show for all to see if it saved Taylor’s life.
Justin winked
