Page 26 of Fated Mates and How to Seduce Them (Fated Mates #4)

André beamed at Ian. Look at him, being so cute and sexy. He would reward that answer as soon as the camera shut off. (André didn’t care about the camera, but he knew Ian would, so he respected that.)

“And that’s all for today, folks! You now understand what’s happening and where André and Ian stand.

If you’re interested in one of them, tough luck.

If you think approaching one of them is a grand idea, it shows you have no survival skills.

Bye, now!” Felix stabbed the End button and then looked up with a smile. “You’re welcome.”

André did admit he’d just done him a favor, but… “Maybe warn us next time before you go live?”

“I wanted to catch you two being all natural with each other, not stiff. The optics work better. I’ll tag you both so you can see it later.

As for now”—Felix pocketed his phone and looked toward the door with a leer—“I think Benedict’s heading toward our apartment alone.

I should do something about that. Bye, kids! Have fun!”

He bounced out of the room and was gone with nothing but vacuumed air in his wake.

Ian watched him go, expression perplexed. “Does Felix ever think of anything aside from sexing your brother up?”

“As far as I can tell…no. He brags, too. Felix has no shame.” André wasn’t interested in discussing Felix. He had other things on his mind. He leaned back in and kissed the side of Ian’s neck, nuzzling where he’d left bite marks last night.

Ian tilted his head to allow this but still protested. “Absolutely anyone can walk in and see us.”

“So what you’re saying is, if I take you upstairs, I can do as I want?”

Ian sat on that for about three seconds. “I only have two hours before you have to take me to my dorm.”

“I can do a lot in two hours. Trust me. You’ll make it to work on time.”

Ian arched an eyebrow. “But will I be in any condition to work?”

“Now that,” he purred, “I can’t promise.”

While André had felt like he was riding on cloud nine the past sixteen hours, an insistent worry had clung to the back of his mind. Which was why, after he took Ian back to his dorm, he immediately returned to the house to speak with his parents. For this, he needed advice.

He came into his mother’s office, happy to find his father already sitting there.

Despite it being the weekend, his mother had a home office, and two other offices in this city and another in France, so it was anyone’s guess which one she’d be working out of due to her constantly packed schedule.

His father—much the same, with a home office and a more formal office in the city—was always working on a new diplomatic solution for the humans and vampires.

The stars had aligned to find them in the same room in the late afternoon, as that rarely happened.

“Mom, Dad, we need to talk.”

At those words, both of them immediately stopped what they were doing and turned to him.

His mother pointed him to the “guest chair,” AKA the computer chair that seemed to float all around the room, serving multiple purposes.

His father sat in her actual guest chair near the desk, looking casual in dark wash jeans and slippers.

He was clearly done working for the day.

“What’s this about?” Dad asked him, a touch of concern in his voice.

“It’s not…bad? But it might bring some trouble. I dunno yet.” He dropped into the chair and scooted it in closer with his heels. “Mom, you got time to talk?”

“I actually just got back from my last on-site meeting for the day,” she assured him. “Haven’t had a chance to change out of the suit yet. We have time, darling, so what is it? Not Ian, I hope?”

His parents were fond of Ian already. Half of that likely had to do with André finally settling down with someone. Which, granted, was fair.

“It is about Ian, yes, but again, I don’t think this is a bad thing. Last night, while we were together, I fed from him.” His parents weren’t prudes, but André had no intention of telling them the finer details. “He didn’t feel any pain at all in the feeding. Said it didn’t even smart.”

Both parents blinked at him, then looked at each other.

“Honey, that’s…” Mom faded off, expression torn between delight and worry. “Did you test him at all?”

“I didn’t. We were both exhausted last night, and I couldn’t find the right timing for it today. I’m also not…not sure how to even explain it to him? I tried a little, last night, telling him he’s unique and such. It didn’t seem to penetrate.”

“So he’s compatible, at the very least,” Dad murmured, staring thoughtfully toward the ground. “Which isn’t anything to sneer at.”

André knew he was in a privileged place.

Not only was he born into a wealthy family, but both of his parents were generation zero, and being born to them meant he was generation zero as well.

As opposed to made vampires, who were one generation below their sire.

Overall, there were precious few vampires who had more strength and natural ability than he did.

But no matter your generation, finding a human with compatible chemistry to vampires was rare.

Finding a true mate? Even rarer. That said, if the Vampire Society Bureau learned of Ian, they’d likely give André quite the fight.

They were greedy these days with humans showing any kind of compatibility with vampires.

André had heard some rumors of something about a month and a half ago.

Mates had been forcibly taken by the VSB in another city, and the building had been leveled as a result.

He didn’t want Ian in the middle of that kind of power struggle.

“I truly hesitate to say anything to the VSB,” Dad continued, frowning. “They’ve lost all sense of reason.”

Hearing his father, who used to be in the upper hierarchy of the VSB, say that was…

well, shocking to say the least. Granted, his father had retired from the governing body for vampires some decades ago and was now a liaison between vampire society and humans, but still.

André had to ask questions hearing this. “Why?”

“They attempted to take a mate from Fernando’s clan recently.”

André’s eyes crossed. “Wait, the American mafia clan?”

“Correct.”

“Holy shit…that’s suicidal. Wait, was Fernando Lombardi the one who killed the director of the city’s VSB branch? I heard she was beheaded on the spot, and the one who’d executed her faced no repercussions.”

“No one officially said anything, but that’s our guess. She and the others involved had threatened his children’s mates on multiple occasions despite formal warnings from the higher ups, so the law would’ve been on his side. I think two other clans’ mates were involved, as well.”

André felt like a beheading and a little demolition were appropriate, because if his Ian were taken, he’d do far worse. But it did say something that the VSB even dared to brazenly steal mates to begin with. “Wow, so, I’m all in favor of not reporting this.”

Mom pursed her lips into an unhappy line.

“I know I should be teaching you to obey the laws, but honestly…it feels so unfair to you and to Ian to put that kind of stress upon you. Especially when you’re so new as a couple.

We can’t trust the VSB to use common sense, either. They showed that recently.”

“We’ll be leveraged some serious fines if we don’t report it, though.” André frankly didn’t care. He’d pay the fines rather than lose Ian to them. It was just something he wanted to plan for. “You’re both okay with that?”

“I am.” Dad looked at him thoughtfully. “I’d rather lose money than Ian. That said, I think we need to do several things. First, we need to test Ian. I want a firm answer if he’s just compatible or if he is a mate.”

“I love how you said ‘just compatible,’” Mom muttered with a roll of her eyes.

He waved her down. “You know what I mean. Either way, Ian needs to know so he can safeguard himself. Ignorance is not bliss in this case.”

“Fair,” André said. “I’m…Some part of my brain is in denial over this whole thing. Like, I can’t seem to wrap my head around the possibility of Ian being a mate. I’d be thrilled if so, but I’m also thrilled with how things are now.”

“Anyone would feel the same in your shoes,” Dad replied. “That said, I also want an agreement from Ian. We’ll safeguard him, of course we will, but if the two of you ever break up—”

André crossed both arms over his chest in a clear no. “Not happening. Ever.”

“— if ,” his father emphasized with a soft laugh, “then we will need to report him to the VSB. Ian deserves a chance to be doted upon and loved his entire life, even if you two don’t pan out for whatever reason.”

André wanted to keep insisting he’d let Ian go over his cold, rotting corpse, but he did take his father’s true meaning. “This is your compromise, then?”

“It is.”

“Well, I’m fine with it. Hopefully Ian will be too. Um, Mom, I won’t see him again until tomorrow night, so can we plan to test him then? Maybe you can drop hints that him being compatible is super-duper amazing?”

“I can do that, yes,” she assured him. “I want him to understand how important this is for his own sake, as well. André, you won’t be disappointed if he’s not a mate?”

“Ian could never disappoint me,” André answered firmly.

He meant every word. “It shocked me to find out his compatibility. I truly didn’t expect it, and if he’s only compatible, that’s more than enough for me.

The only issue I foresee is we already argue about me spoiling him.

He’s always putting his foot down, and I can just imagine that if he’s a mate, my urge to spoil him will get worse. ”

His mother laughed outright. “If that’s your worst issue with him, you’ll be fine.”

If André wanted sympathy, he’d come to the wrong store with the wrong currency. Oh well.

At least he had parental backup for the next step, which was what truly mattered.

“And if, somehow, word of Ian’s nature is leaked, and the VSB comes knocking—” Mom looked to her husband, her expression saying a thousand words.

Her husband gave her a slow, reassuring nod, the love in his eyes for his wife still obvious even after them being together for decades. “—then we will protect you both. They’ll not take Ian from you, that I can promise you.”

André felt better for the reassurance, but he also envied this moment between his parents. They were so solid, so in tune with each other. He wanted this with Ian. It would take time, of course, but still, he wanted to reach this ultimate goal.

Was it too much to ask for centuries with Ian?