Free The Demon Who Fed on a Shark by Scarlet Hyacinth Page B

quite grasp.
    Only, this time, he could. He knew what he needed. He ached for
    Morgan to bite him, to claim him, to take him as a mate.

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    Morgan lowered his mouth over his neck, ready to strike. But just
    as Morgan’s sharp teeth pierced his flesh, uncertainty struck Alexis.
    He remembered his parents’ words. He remembered his own fear, the
    knowledge that he was tying Morgan down to a disfigured pariah by
    accepting this love. And then he remembered all the men he’d been
    with, all the things he’d done in his past. How could he allow Morgan to see that? No. He needed to stop this.
    But it was too late, much too late, and white-hot pleasure-pain
    filled Alexis as Morgan bit down on his flesh. He felt something, a
    connection click into place, and fear and denial filled him. A slow
    heat developed in his belly, strange, unlike anything he’d ever
    experienced. He feared it.
    The pleasure of Morgan’s touch exploded into absolute pain. The
    thread tying their hearts together unraveled, and for a minute, Alexis fell, unanchored in a reality he could no longer make sense of, in a black void where only his fears existed. He cried out, but he couldn’t hear his own screams. It was a relief when everything went dark.

    * * * *

    Something had gone wrong. Morgan sensed it from the very
    moment Alexis’s blood had filled his mouth. He’d tasted fear
    mingling with the endorphins of arousal, a fear that had no place
    being there, in Alexis’s heart and body.
    But he’d been unable to stop himself in time. It had all been so
    fast. Suddenly, the world shattered around him, and Alexis’s scream
    of pain swept through him like a dagger. He moved his mouth away
    from Alexis’s neck and licked the wound clean, then hugged his lover
    to his chest, trying to calm him.
    The cries diminished in volume, but Alexis’s body continued to
    tremble, almost seizing. Alexis’s eyes rolled in his head, and despair coursed through Morgan as he realized his sweet love had lost
    consciousness.
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    His family must have heard the screams because moments later,
    the door burst open. Layton shot into the room, followed by their
    parents. “What’s wrong?” Layton asked. “What is it?”
    “I…I tried to claim him,” Morgan said. “I don’t know what
    happened. It hurt him.”
    Morgan held his lover in his arms, trying his best to soothe the
    other. “He needs medical attention,” he told his parents. He was
    reluctant to move Alexis, just in case he hurt his lover further.
    Byron was already out the door, but even with his almost
    unnatural speed, it seemed to take forever until he brought the doctors in.
    In brisk, efficient motions, the medical staff pushed Morgan away
    and proceeded to examine Alexis’s still-trembling body. Nothing they
    did seemed enough, and Morgan wanted to scream at them, to urge
    them to move quicker, to act wiser, to do anything, just anything to
    stop this. But he was helpless, and he couldn’t even refute his father when the other man ushered him from the room and a far too heavy
    door separated him from his lover.

    * * * *

    “But why would something like that cause him to get sick?”
    A small whisper reached Alexis’s ears, startling him from his
    slumber, or rather, summoning him from his unconsciousness. The
    low volume suggested that the speaker didn’t want to be heard, but
    fortunately, Alexis was an accomplished actor. In spite of the ache
    throbbing through his entire body, he managed to feign sleep.
    Another voice, which Alexis recognized, answered, “I don’t
    know. I’m not sure I want to.”
    It was Layton, and he seemed very upset about something,
    probably Alexis’s situation. The second person spoke again, and now,
    Alexis identified the voice as belonging to Malcolm.

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    “I hate to say this, but I think Morgan might have rushed into
    things. God only knows we like Alexis, but he’s an