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A throat cleared from behind them, and Jay was brought back to his senses with a start. “Oh. Right.” He took a step back, surprised when Alexei readily released him. “Alexei, where do you live? We’ll get you home.”

But Alexei was already shaking his head with uncharacteristic aggression, his free tendrils of hair whipping around his head. “No, no, no. You can’t tell me vampires exist, that youareone, and then just send me on my way.”

Jay frowned. “Well, you can’t stay here. It’s freezing. You’re starting to shiver.” Alexei’s finger had been quite cold against Jay’s lips. Nice but cold.

Alexei continued to shake his head, and then Jay had a wonderful, splendid, terrible idea. “Alexei, do you want to come home with me?”

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Jay was pleased that Alexei handled the walk home just fine.

Well, he did keep leaning on Jay, putting a good portion of his weight onto Jay’s shoulders. That part was fine; Jay was super strong. But the issue was the human smelled so good, and Jay was so hungry, and his fangs kept wanting to pop out.

His little beastie even started speaking to him, which it rarely ever did.Just a little taste,it pleaded.

No, beastie. No biting without permission.

Jay would have to make new arrangements with Colin in the morning. But for now—after convincing Colin that yes, the two of them would be just fine alone and no, he didn’t need to compel Alexei to forgetfulness right then and there—they were at Jay’s little duplex in no time at all.

Jay was surprisingly nervous approaching his apartment, his stomach a funny little ball of knots. He didn’t have guests often. He wished he did, but Soren and Danny both had proper houses, so he often just went over to theirs when they spent time together.

He tried to make some conversation to cover his nerves as he unlocked the door for them. “So, Alexei. Do you get drunk often?”

Alexei was close on his heels, enough so that Jay could feel how cold the human was from the frozen night air. He seemed to stiffen even further at Jay’s question. “What? No. I just—I forgot to eat dinner.”

“You need to eat?” Jay turned to ask the question, and whoa, Alexei’s face was very close to his. The human’s nose was a little red at the tip from the chill. Jay hummed in thought. “You need to eat, and you’re cold.”

Jay’s absent humming turned into a full tune as he thought it over. He could definitely work with that. He didn’t need to be nervous at all. He was very good at making people comfortable—it had, after all, been his sole purpose for over two centuries. Well, not to make humans comfortable, exactly, but it couldn’t be that different with vampires, could it?

He grabbed hold of Alexei’s hand, taking a second to enjoy the way the human’s large palm swallowed his so easily. He was so much larger than Jay, and Jay had to admit he liked that about his regular. He could easily imagine being held, possibly hugged, maybe even pressed down onto a mattress…

But no. This wasn’t the time. The human needed food and warmth, not Jay’s lustful thoughts. Jay shook them right out of his head.

He pulled Alexei to the couch in the living room before rising to his tiptoes to press down on the big human’s shoulders, gently guiding him into a seated position. Alexei folded himself down easily, his wide, dazed eyes focused on Jay all the while.

Jay patted Alexei’s chest (so nice and firm) and went off to collect all the blankets from around the room—good thing he’d bought so many in his time here. He started layering them onto Alexei, unsure how many the human needed to warm himself. But after the fifth blanket, Alexei halted his movement by placing his large hand—he really had such nice hands, tan and slightly calloused—onto Jay’s arm.

“Show me again,” Alexei requested. “In the light.”

Jay let out a little sigh. He had things to attend to just now, but he supposed it was the polite thing to do, to cede to a guest’s request. “One more time,” he said, making his voice as stern as he could, which probably wasn’t very stern at all. “Then we need to feed you.”

Jay pushed his beastie forward again. It came easily at his call, preening a little at the attention Alexei showered it with, those pretty eyes tracking Jay’s newly black pair.

Alexei released Jay’s arm and lifted his hand, pressing against the front of Jay’s fang with one finger. Jay shivered, a tingle going down his spine. No one had ever touched his fangs like that before. Were fangs an erogenous zone? Or was it just that it was Alexei touching him?

He’d have to ask Soren later. That sounded like something he would know.

When Alexei moved to press his finger against the pointed tip, Jay stopped him with a hand to his wrist. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea. If I cut you— Well, um, it’s just you smell really, really good,” he tried to explain, not sure if he was getting through to the dazed human or not.

Alexei only stared.

Jay pushed his beastie back, ignoring its grumbling protests. Time to get back to business. “I’m going to make you some miniature pizza bagels,” he said, stepping back from the couch. “But don’t worry, they come from a box.”

“Why would I be worried?” Alexei twisted his torso, tracking Jay’s entry into the kitchen.

The duplex had an open floor plan, without a wall between the two rooms, so really, he could watch as much as he wanted while Jay prepared his food. Jay was fine with an audience because he was going to follow the directionsperfectly. Maybe Alexei would even be impressed.

“I can’t cook because everything I make comes out terrible and inedible, and also, I started a small fire once, and that upset my friends,” Jay explained, pushing the buttons to preheat the oven.

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