Page 14 of Fated Mates and How to Seduce Them (Fated Mates #4)

It had taken three weeks of charm and persistence, but André had finally been invited over to hang out. Clearly, his consistent effort had paid off.

André sat on the floor of Ian’s dorm room, a cat wand toy in hand, and couldn’t be more delighted.

Ian’s roommate had left shortly after André’s arrival, so it was just the two of them and an energetic bundle of fur in this small space.

He’d be sure to offer his sacrifices to the gods later for such wonderful luck of having Ian all to himself.

“Right, like that,” Ian coached. “Make it move, like a bird trying to escape. There you go. Now you’ve got her going.”

The kitten was in full chase, determined to catch the bundle of feathers at all costs, wearing her new collar with little cherry blossoms, a gift from him.

She had laser focus on the toy, and André had to concentrate on keeping it just out of her grasp.

Ridiculously, it took vampiric reflexes to keep the kitten from winning constantly.

She looked much better than when he’d first seen her a month ago, her coat now clean and glossy, no longer painfully thin but developing some weight and muscle. Ian clearly took good care of her.

It was a toss-up which he enjoyed more: making friends with the kitten or leaning up against Ian’s leg while doing it.

The fact Ian hadn’t shoved him off yet made André absurdly happy, but it also pushed his self-control to the limit.

Within five minutes of arriving, he’d realized that as much as he loved being in Ian’s room, it also caused a little bit of a struggle, too.

Everything here carried the man’s smell, and the ever-present mix of the floral, citrusy scent was the most delicious thing, heady and aromatic.

André had taken the precaution of staying well fed when around Ian to keep his base instincts in check, but even then he still felt the pulsing ache in his gums where his fangs threatened to descend.

He just really, truly wanted to feed from Ian.

Especially since feeding from donors had gotten progressively harder over the last few weeks.

Something about Ian called like a siren’s song to his vampiric instincts.

He just didn’t find anyone else as appetizing, and what used to be a fun activity he often indulged in during sex had become a loathsome chore.

Why Ian? Even a month later, André had no idea what about the man drew him in so strongly.

The pull was there, unmistakable, and growing stronger with every interaction.

That much was undeniable. At this point, André didn’t care why.

He only knew a casual situationship with this man held no appeal to him.

He wanted the full dating package with Ian, and no one else.

If he could figure out how to get the man on an actual date, life would be perfect.

But Ian was just now getting to the point he liked hanging out with André. Pushing for anything else would destroy all the progress he’d made. Sometimes, though, sometimes he dearly wished he could say “fuck it” and take what he wanted, to show Ian how good it would feel if he gave in.

So there he sat, leaning against this tempting man, all while thanking his stars for the less appealing grassy scent of the roommate mixed in with Ian’s, the disturbance enough to keep André from turning his head and nibbling on the clothed leg next to him.

Instead, he directed his scant attention elsewhere.

In contrast to the roommate’s side chocked full of metal band posters, knickknacks, and unkempt clothes, Ian’s side of the dorm room was kept spotless—no surprise there, Ian was the organized type—and simple.

There wasn’t any real personality to his space.

No art on the walls, no plants, a plain black comforter on his twin bed, and basic school supplies and a plain white lamp on his desk.

It wasn’t just a minimalist aesthetic, but an obvious lack of anything but barebone necessities.

Aside from a few pictures of him with his late father on the nightstand and all of Casper’s many toys and cat stand, his side could have been a display model for any dorm.

Ian had mentioned after his dad passed, he’d only planned to stay in the dorms until graduation.

So maybe it was the practicality of having less to move later?

Then again, André had been shopping with Ian for the kids, and he knew how loathe he was to spend beyond the basics.

The creative side of André’s nature wanted to bring in some decorations, maybe a few potted plants. Just because.

“Oh, she caught it!” André paused the toy and let her bite into it, her back legs bunny kicking as she “killed” the feathers. “You’re fast.”

“She is. You lose focus for even a second, and she’ll take advantage.”

“Have you thought about taking her to the group home, letting her play with the kids? They’d both love that, I bet.”

“Mm, I thought about it, since she’s more comfortable with others now, but it would mean a two-hour journey for her. I have to take a bus most of the way out of the city with a few transfers, then a rideshare the rest of the way. That’s a bit much to ask of a cat.”

“Or you could just let me take both of you, make it more like an hour.” André tilted his head up and over his shoulder to look at Ian. “I’ll be going out there Saturday anyway.”

Ian got that strange look on his face, like he couldn’t fully understand what André was saying. “Don’t you have friends to hang out with on the weekends? You used to spend almost every weekend at the bar, and you had that one guy who often hung out with you.”

He probably asked because André had spent the past several weekends at Second Sun, and he now only stopped by the bar to chat with Ian before leaving.

“Eh…sorta. Not really? I spent most of my childhood and teenage years outside of America. Mom loves spending time with family, but work kept taking her to France and different countries, so she always took me with her. Well, me and whatever tutor spoke the local language.”

“Not you and your brother?”

“I mean, when she could convince Benedict to go, he did. But most of the time, Benedict refused to leave Felix, so he stayed. At the time, Felix still lived with his parents, who refused to let him travel. You’ll discover Felix and Benedict are basically joined at the hip.

I think only a nuclear bomb could separate them.

Anyway, because I didn’t really grow up in this country, I don’t have a lot of close friends here.

Most of my friends are also Benedict’s friends. ”

Especially after the fallout with the psycho wanting to play chemist, he didn’t feel comfortable hanging out with Todd anymore.

Todd had tried to play it off, saying “you’re a vampire, it couldn’t be that bad” and “she just liked you dude, chill.” Which had obviously ended the friendship.

Not like André needed a wingman anymore.

Ian sat on this information for a second. “So you’ve only really stayed in country when you started college.”

“Yeah, basically. I put my foot down, told my parents I wanted to stay in country while I pursued my degree. I’m tired of going all over the place. If it’s any longer than a vacation, I’m not going.”

“On paper, living that kind of life sounds like a dream. But I suppose it does come with its cons.”

“That it does. Besides, going out to the group home is fun. I need to check up on the repairs of the building anyway, but I promised some of the kids I’d help with their homework. Will and Luke both are failing French. I’m bringing the secret weapon to help tutor them.”

Ian blinked down at him. “Secret weapon?”

“Cartoons.” André grinned when Ian snorted.

“No, seriously, the best way to absorb words and phrases is to hear them repeated often by a native speaker. Aside from going to the country itself, cartoons and movies are the second-best option. If the kids spend, like, an hour a day watching something, trying to decipher what the speaker is saying, it’ll help a bunch. ”

“Of course, you’ll bring a fun way to do it.”

André shrugged. “It’s when it’s fun that things stick. So what do you say, ride with me?”

Ian hesitated for only a second before shrugging. “Fine.”

André kept his shout of victory clamped behind his teeth. Yes! Ian was definitely softening. He turned back to playing with Casper to hide his grin. It would give the game away just then.

“André, tell me if this isn’t my business, but…you said your brother and Felix were inseparable.”

André had no idea where he was going with this, but there wasn’t anything Ian could ask that he would refuse to answer. “Yeah?”

“I saw the video going around campus last year, where Benedict asked Felix out in the middle of the courtyard.”

“I think everyone and their dog saw that video. What about it?”

“Your parents didn’t mind?”

André suddenly had a lot more investment in this conversation.

Was Ian subtly asking what he hoped he was asking?

Or had André read too much into it? He wasn’t looking at Ian right now, but the inflection of his voice and the scent of him suggested nervousness.

Oh-ho, what was this? “No, my parents didn’t mind.

My mom basically said the polite version of ‘fucking finally’ because we all could tell those two were in love with each other.

Why it took them this long to get together is a mystery.

I mean, they’re childhood best friends turned lovers and go all the way back to a time when they were both in diapers, so maybe it took a minute for the lust to kick in and make things obvious. ”

“Oh.” Unable to hold back any longer, André glanced at Ian again, and his expression was this cross between curiosity and something André couldn’t quite read. Was it interest? Hope?

“Why?”

Ian turned away, suddenly fascinated by the lint on his comforter. “No reason. Just curious.”

André wanted to press the point but chose to bide his time instead.

If Ian was checking to see if his parents were against their sons having male partners, then it was an excellent sign for André.

It was a concern Ian had briefly mentioned before, but the subtle emotion behind the question had shifted.

If there was anything he’d learned over the past few weeks, it was that Ian was as cautious as André was impulsive.

He wasn’t sure if it was nature or nurture, but Ian never committed to anything unless he’d felt his way into it first. He wanted a full grasp of the situation before deciding what to do.

Perhaps asking a question like this meant he was thinking about dating André after all and not just humoring him by hanging out.

The thought made André ridiculously happy.