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“I think so?” Jay answered with a shrug, his shoulder bumping up against Alexei’s chest. Jay’s back was to Alexei’s front, with Alexei’s erection nestled right up against that surprisingly pert little butt. It took all Alexei’s willpower to resist thrusting into it. “You were all grumbly and mumbly, and your eyes were only half-open. I don’t mind though.” Jay said the last part tentatively, the tips of his ears going pink in front of Alexei’s eyes. “The cuddling is nice.”

Alexei snorted with amusement, unable to keep himself from bending forward to nose the back of Jay’s neck. “You’re just a literal cupcake, aren’t you?”

“Well, not aliteralcupcake,” Jay giggled.

Right. Because Jay was a literalvampire.An ancient creature who drank people’s blood and was somehow still a virgin after multiple centuries of living. And while Alexei knew his brain should be more focused on the former, he was really having a hard time pulling his dirty fucking mind away from the latter.

He still couldn’t believe he’d been worried Jay was tooyoungfor him.

“We’ll consider the cuddling part of your…education.”

“Is cuddling a big part of sex?” Jay wiggled against him as he asked the question, and Alexei couldn’t for the life of him tell if he was doing it on purpose.

“Yes,” Alexei lied.

It wasn’t, not to him. He’d never opened himself up to the potential vulnerability of holding his former partners, had never stayed the night with them. But he liked having Jay in his arms. For such a slender little thing, he was surprisingly soft, and he smelled unbearably good, and when he was nervous, he apparently did this odd wiggling thing like a little puppy, and that felt awfully nice pressed against Alexei’s dick right about now.

Except…

Alexei sighed, reluctantly loosening his hold. “I’m afraid I need to get up.”

Jay twisted his upper body until he was peering back at Alexei, his brows furrowed. “Oh,” he said sadly. “Did you, um, change your mind? About the sex stuff?”

“Fuck no,” Alexei said, a bit more harshly than he had intended, his arms tightening once more. He made an effort to soften his voice. “Not at all. I just need to use the restroom, kitten.”

Honestly, with all the water Jay had had him chugging the night before, it was a miracle Alexei had slept the entire night without having to get up to pee.

He sat up carefully, finally releasing his captive vampire, mindful of each movement of his potential hangover. He wasn’t in his twenties anymore. But really, Alexei’s head didn’t feel too bad, all things considered.

It probably had something to do with all the pizza bagels Jay had fed him.

Jay led him to the bathroom, although the guidance probably wasn’t necessary, considering there were only two possible doors to choose from. Alexei paused in the doorway, rubbing at the back of his neck. His hair had come loose sometime in the night. “Do vampires happen to use toothpaste?”

For some reason, the question seemed to delight Jay, who bounced up on his toes in his excitement. “Oh! Yes to toothpaste. And I even have a toothbrush, never used.” He hustled into the bathroom and dug around in the cabinet, triumphantly brandishing a still-packaged toothbrush. “I keep them for guests, but then I never have guests, so it’s just…here.”

Alexei took the toothbrush from him, lips twitching a little at Jay’s enthusiasm, and then they both just stood there, staring at each other. Eventually Alexei cleared his throat. “Still have to pee, kitten.”

“Oh!” Jay flushed. As of the past twenty-four hours, he seemed to do that quite a lot around Alexei. It was incredibly endearing. “I’ll get out of your way.”

Alexei did his business quickly, and by the time he came out of the bathroom, Jay had already arranged a tall glass of water and a plate of what looked like Pop-Tarts on the coffee table, standing off to the side like the maître d’ of some fancy restaurant.

“For me?” Alexei asked, making his way over to the couch.

Jay nodded shyly, remaining standing even as Alexei sat, and Alexei gulped his water dutifully under the vampire’s watchful eye. He left the Pop-Tarts alone for the moment; he wasn’t interested in the food just yet.

“Come here, please,” he requested, patting the couch next to him.

But Jay, movingalarminglyfast, took his request in a much more interesting direction, and he was perched and straddling Alexei’s lap before he could even blink.

“Vamp speed?” Alexei asked, careful to keep his voice light. He didn’t want the little guy to think he was scared of him or anything.

“Uh-huh,” Jay answered absently, his gaze on Alexei’s mouth.

Alexei bit back a smile. Jay was wearing worn sweatpants, incredibly soft-looking, and a T-shirt that had to be about three sizes too big. It was easy enough for Alexei to slip his hands up under all that fabric, rubbing his thumbs against the soft skin of Jay’s stomach. “Would you like to start with a kiss, kitten?”

Gray eyes met his, a fervid hunger in their depths. “Can we?”

Alexei barely managed a nod before Jay was leaning forward eagerly, pressing those sweet pink lips against Alexei’s own. He took a long moment like that, just a light, steady brush of their lips. Alexei let him go at his own pace, keeping the kiss soft and easy, the scent of peppermint washing over him. And then Jay was slipping his tongue in Alexei’s mouth, and Alexei couldn’t help himself.

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