[BL: Vampire Lucien x Cowboy Colton]

The smell of stale beer and smoke hung thick in the air, blending with the distant rumble of a train rolling past the dusty town. Outside, the sun had long since dipped below the horizon, leaving the sky a bruised purple that swallowed the last light. Inside the bar, a few tired locals nursed their drinks, voices low and rough like the cracked wooden floorboards beneath their boots..

Colton sat hunched at the counter, his hat pulled low to hide the weariness clinging to his face. The day’s work on the ranch had left his hands rough and aching, but the burn of whiskey was a welcome distraction. The world outside was cold and unforgiving; here, in the dim warmth of the bar, there was at least a temporary reprieve..

He didn’t notice the stranger at first—tall, pale, with eyes that seemed too sharp, too knowing. The vampire’s presence was like a sudden chill that slithered up the back of the neck, subtle but impossible to ignore. Lucien slid onto the stool beside him, offering a glass with a calm, almost hypnotic smile..

Colton took it without thinking, the amber liquid sliding down smooth, burning away the edge of his fatigue. Words came easier with each drink, the stranger’s voice a quiet thread weaving through the haze of whiskey and smoke..

Hours blurred..

Morning light spilled softly through a cracked window, warm but unfamiliar. Colton stirred, blinking against the brightness, and realized he wasn’t alone..Confusion mixed with a strange sense of calm..

The stranger was awake. His jet black hair was shining in the morning light, his pale, almost white-like skin glistened all across where it was exposed.. Colton's eyes widened at the dark marks that were scattered all across his skin..

He had slept with a vampire.