Page 45 of Mated to the Human: Volume One

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the authors imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Cover Design by Natasha Snow

Proofreading by AlternativEdits

This book contains adult language and situations and graphic violence.

It is intended for a mature audience.

1

Merrick tried not to fidget. He’d been shown to this room ten minutes ago and only managed to sit down at the long wooden table at its center for about thirty seconds at a time. He hated not knowing who was going to walk through the door.

He still couldn’t believe Lenette had talked him into this. The vampire could be damn persuasive. Especially when she brought his grandfather into it. Granddad had been dead for over ten years, but he still had such a hold on Merrick. Asbury Black had believed in unity between paranormals and humans. Merrick believed the same.

So he’d mate with whatever paranormal had chosen him. Lenette had assured him it would be someone who found him appealing with senses beyond what humans were capable of. It all intrigued Merrick—the paranormal world and the people and creatures that inhabited it.

The doorknob turned.

Merrick stood, sending the wheeled office chair he’d been sitting in rolling away from him. Holding his breath, he watched as the door was pulled open, eyes widening at the man stepping inside.

Leander.

He swallowed hard, mind not quite willing to believe this was who had chosen to mate with him. Leander was a vampire. Old and regal in a way that always made Merrick sit up straighter and seriously reconsider his wardrobe. Right now, Leander was dressed in a charcoal gray three-piece suit, dark hair precisely styled, and dark gaze boring into Merrick from where he’d stopped just inside the door.

“Hi,” Merrick heard himself say. “Leander, right?” He’d seen him at council meetings and various events around town. His last name, and the money everyone associated with it, kept him on guest lists whether he ever attended the function or not.

Leander nodded. “Leander Harlow. And you’re Merrick Black.”

Merrick licked his lips, unable to look away from Leander’s face. “Are we…did you?”

“Yes, we’re to be mates.” A muscle in Leander’s jaw ticked. He didn’t look unhappy exactly, but there was something pulling down the corners of his mouth. Hesitance? Resignation?

Merrick’s stomach did an unhappy twist.

Leander cleared his throat and walked further into the room, stopping on the other side of the table. “Do you have objections to that?”

“No,” Merrick said, blushing a little at how quickly it came out. “I mean, as long as you don’t.”

Looking down, Leander adjusted one of his perfectly cuffed sleeves. “I chose you,” he said, voice low.

When Leander didn’t look back up at him for a moment, Merrick looked down at himself. Had Leander heard his name and assumed…what? That he’d find an equally well-dressed man with perfect hair and a poise Merrick would never master, not even if he had centuries to live?

Merrick knew how fortunate he was. His grandfather had made sure he understood the value of hard work and never taking anything for granted. He didn’t flaunt his money, and he didn’t pander to the people who tried to use him just to be able to throw his name around.

Sure, he could probably do with some help in the fashion-sense department, but that had never really been important to him. He liked who he was. Bookstore owner. Cat dad. Philanthropist. Wearer of the comfy clothes.

He sighed internally. Maybe this was a bad idea.

At that moment, the door opened again. Lenette and two of her assistants came into the room. As they did, Leander moved to Merrick’s side, pulling the chair Merrick had been sitting in back to the table and offering it to him. He met Merrick’s gaze, deep brown eyes holding a question. Will you?

For the life of him, Merrick couldn’t say no. He sat in the offered chair and signed the mating contract without another thought in his head.

* * *

The SUV rolled to a stop in front of Black’s Books. Leander gazed up at the old, large building, remembering when it’d housed a printing company and offices before Asbury Black had purchased it and turned the bottom floor into the largest bookstore in the city. He’d told Leander once that he liked the gargoyles clinging to the top corners of the five-story limestone building.

Now, Asbury’s grandson sat beside him. His new mate.

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