Page 49 of Mated to the Human: Volume One

Ah. Leander’s heart stuttered in his chest. Merrick didn’t think he was a monster. He just didn’t like the thought of Leander potentially being intimate with anyone else.

Oh, sweet Merri.

Moving closer to Merrick, Leander reached out and took his hand. They’d been mated a week, and he’d managed to not touch Merrick once until tonight when he’d flown them back here. Now, the moment Merrick’s hand was in his, a calm he’d rarely felt in the last hundred or so years washed over him. “You’re right. It can be intimate when a person offers to share their blood, but I haven’t drank directly from anyone in a very long time.”

“Oh. That’s good,” Merrick said, voice relieved before turning curious. “Then how?”

“Fifty or so years ago, Lenette and I set up a network of donors for the vampires under council rule in the city. Donors apply, are screened, and once they’re approved, paid for their services.”

“Wow. That’s smart.”

Leander chuckled. “Thank you.” He took another step closer. “You don’t seem too shaken about the attacks tonight.”

“Oh, I’m shaken, but I tend to deal with that by not dealing with it.” Another one of those self-deprecating smiles pulled at the corners of his mouth. “I’m excellent at distracting myself.”

Leander hummed. If Merrick wasn’t going to actively worry about his safety, then Leander would do it for him. “Does the building have security beyond the system you have in place? I noticed cameras.”

“Cameras and the bookstore has alarms on the windows and doors.”

“Okay. How many people are in the building?”

“Right now? You and me.”

Leander’s eyebrows went up. “In the whole building?”

Merrick chewed on his lip. “Yeah. I have five people on the maintenance and housekeeping staff, but they all work during the week only. And the bookstore employees are only in during business hours.”

“What’s on the other three floors?”

“Two is mostly storage. Book inventory, decorations, and old printing equipment. Three and four are mostly empty. I, uh, haven’t really decided what I want to do with them.”

Leander looked down at their still joined hands, running a thumb over Merrick’s knuckles. “If it’s alright with you, I’d like to call in some people from my security team to cover the building. I know the hellhounds will be patrolling, but I’d like to take extra precautions. These vigilantes have already gone after the other two human mates. We have no reason to think they won’t try to get to you, too.”

4

“If you think that’s best, I don’t mind if you call them.” Merrick wouldn’t mind if Leander decided to build a moat around the building if he kept stroking the back of his hand like that.

Which was probably pathetic, but he couldn’t honestly bring himself to care. After being mated for a week and only having two measly dinners to show for it, Leander was finally in his space. Finally touching him. Hand-holding was a huge step up, in Merrick’s opinion, and he was…lonely. Had been ever since his grandpa died. It was nice just to have someone to be his person—even if that someone was a centuries-old vampire.

Leander’s phone beeped. Giving Merrick’s hand a little squeeze, he let go to pull it out of his pocket, but he didn’t step away. Leander’s dark eyes focused on the screen for a moment before moving back up to Merrick’s face. “Lenette is requesting we come to a special meeting tomorrow about the attacks.”

“Okay. When?”

“Tomorrow evening at the Paranormal Council building.”

“What are we supposed to do until then?” Merrick asked even as he started walking toward his bedroom. He wanted out of his tux. It was nice, and he supposed he looked okay in it, but he wasn’t comfortable.

Leander followed behind him. “Behave normally, I suppose. How do you usually spend your Sundays?”

Merrick walked through his bedroom door and flipped on the overhead light. “It depends. The store’s only open half a day and usually a couple of my employees handle it. But occasionally, I work or sort inventory.” He walked to his chest of drawers and started pulling out pairs of sweats in various colors.

Glancing over his shoulder, he had to swallow against how dry his mouth had gone at the sight of Leander leaning against the doorframe, long legs crossed at the ankle, and his strong arms crossed over his chest. That tux jacket didn’t even try to hide the perfectly defined bulge of his shoulders.

“Um,” Merrick finally said after he’d forced himself to turn back to his task. “Do you have a color preference?” He turned with a pair of sweats in each hand, one gray and the other navy blue.

Leander tilted his head and pushed off the doorframe. “I’ll take the blue.”

“Okay.” Merrick handed them over and pulled out a light gray t-shirt for him as well. “Um.” He looked at his bed—his unmade bed, ugh—and wondered if he should offer half of it to Leander or if he’d be more comfortable in one of the spare rooms down the hall.

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