Page 55 of Mated to the Human: Volume One

“I believe they will. HAP won’t stop at targeting our human mates. If we don’t squash this quickly, every paranormal in the city will have to constantly look over their shoulder. I won’t stand for that.”

Leander’s face hardened. “Neither will I.”

Merri stepped up to Leander’s side, looking between him and Lenette. “Neither will you, what?”

Looking down at him, Leander slipped an arm around his waist and pulled him close, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. “Let anything happen to you.”

A blush stained Merri’s cheeks. “I know.”

Lenette smiled at them, some of the sharpness of her last statement still lingering in her gaze. “Be safe going home. The hellhounds are going to escort everyone from the building.”

“Good.” Leander started to turn them toward the door.

“Will you be in the office on Monday?” Lenette asked before they stepped away.

He glanced down at Merri, who said, “I’ll need to be in the bookstore.”

“I’ll be in the office.” Leander nodded at Lenette and kept his arm around Merri until they were safely ensconced in the back of his SUV and on their way home.

7

The next morning, Merrick opened the bookstore at nine o’clock just like every Monday since he’d opened it. Maple had ridden down the elevator on his shoulder like she always did, happy to join him on the ground floor of the building and bask in the attention of some of their regular customers and rays of sunshine alike.

There was something syrupy-slow and fresh about mornings in the store that Merrick loved. Especially the quiet moments before he unlocked the door when he could stand among the shelves, books spanning out in every direction, and almost imagine that his grandpa was maybe only an aisle over, checking out the thriller titles. He’d never felt closer to Grandpa than here.

Sighing, he leaned his elbows on the counter, running his hand over Maple’s head and thinking about how nice it’d been to wake up with Leander. Again. Only twice, but they’d moved around each other between bathroom routines and filling up coffee cups in the kitchen like they’d been doing it for years. Merrick, of course, noticed the stainless steel thermos jug that had appeared in the fridge and how Leander had turned his back when he poured from it into the travel mug he was taking to work.

Blood. Which Leander needed to survive. Merrick frowned. He appreciated the gesture, he supposed, but he didn’t like that Leander felt he needed to hide it. He’d drank from Merrick, and Merrick wanted him to do it again. He’d honestly never felt closer to anyone in his life than when Leander’s fangs had pierced his neck.

“Thinking hard there, boss?” Ammon walked toward the front of the store.

Merrick chuckled. “Just enjoying the quiet. Mondays are typically slow unless there’s a holiday coming up.” Leander had insisted that Ammon stay with Merrick today. Apparently, he was acting as Merrick’s bodyguard until Leander got back from the Paranormal Council building.

“Will anyone else be working today?”

“Oh yeah. Cheryl will be here just before lunch, and then after, a couple others come in to work through until close. I usually head out around five.”

“Nice. Being the boss has its perks.”

Merrick chuckled. “It really does.”

The day carried on, a small rush of customers from a bus tour hitting just after Cheryl walked in the door. Around lunch, Merrick decided he wanted lemon cookies and an iced coffee from the shop across the road, so he headed out the door after he grabbed Cheryl’s order. Ammon had stepped into the back to take a phone call, but Merrick would grab him some cookies and caffeine, too. He should probably let Ammon know he was leaving the building, but he didn’t think there was much risk right now. It was the middle of the day, and he was only going across the street.

“Hey, Merrick,” Gavin, the barista, called as soon as Merrick pushed open the coffee shop door.

“You’re here early,” Merrick said, stepping up to the counter. Gavin usually worked nights. More than once, on a particularly lonely evening, Merrick would find himself making his way across the street to curl up with a book and a hot cocoa in the corner of the coffee shop. Sometimes having people in his vicinity eased the ache of missing his grandpa and the hole in his life where family was supposed to be. That ache hadn’t been as demanding since Leander walked into that conference room and told Merrick he’d chosen him as his mate.

“Covering a shift,” Gavin said, short blond hair tucked behind his ears and blue eyes looking tired, but happy. “What can I get you?”

“Let me have three large iced coffees and a dozen lemon cookies, please.”

“More than Cheryl working today?” Gavin asked, moving to get Merrick’s order together.

“Oh, uh,” Merrick fumbled his words. How did he explain that his mate’s assistant was acting as his de facto bodyguard? “Um, a friend of my mate is hanging out with us today.”

Gavin’s eyebrows went up. “Your mate?”

Heat, along with a dopey smile, spread across Merrick’s face before he could stop them. “Yeah.”

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